Fatty acid profile, liposoluble vitamins and antioxidant capacity in three historic cheeses of southern Italy: Piacentinu ennese DOP, Maiorchino e Canestrato di Moliterno IGP

Piacentinu Ennese PDO (PE), Maiorchino (MR) and Canestrato di Moliterno IGP (CM) are historical cheeses belonging to the dairy tradition of southern Italy. PE, produced in Sicily, is a pressed pasta cheese with a unique yellow colour, due to the use of saffron in the milk; it is produced with raw, whole ewe’s milk using traditional tools predominantly on wood. MR is a Sicilian hard cheese, still produced with traditional techniques, from raw, whole ewe’s milk sometimes mixed with goat’s milk (ewe’s milk 30–50% and goat milk 70–50%). CM cheese is a PGI hard cheese produced in Basilicata with a combination of raw or heat-treated goat and sheep milk (70–90% sheep’s milk and 30–10% goat’s milk).PE (5 samples), MR (3 samples) and CM (5 samples) cheeses were chosen at ripening phases mostly appreciated by consumers (4, 10 and 6 months, respectively). Cheeses were analysed for fatty acid composition (% of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters, úME), retinol, α-tocopherol (mg/kg of cheese), total phenol content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity with FRAP (ferric reducing abil-ity) and TEAC (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) tests. MR cheese was characterised by a lowest content of SFA (Saturated Fatty Acids) 65% vs. 70% and a highest content of monounsatu-rated fatty acids 27% vs. 24% vs. 22% respect to CM and PE, respectively. As concern beneficial fatty acids, MR cheese showed a highest content of CLA c9 t11 (1.8% vs. 1.4% vs. 1.1%) and of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids-ω6 (PUFA-ω6, 2.2% vs. 1.9% vs. 1.8%) compared to PE and CM, respectively. PE cheese was featured by a highest content of PUFA-ω3 (2.1% vs. 1.6% vs. 1.4%) and con-sequently the lowest ω6/ω3 ratio value compared to MR and CM cheeses. Retinol content (mg/kg of cheese) was significantly higher in PE (4.1) than MR (3.2) (p < .05) and it was intermediate in CM (3.5) cheeses; α-tocopherol values were 9.7, 8.2 and 7.9 (mg/kg of cheese) for PE, MR and CM, respectively.TCP values were 4.66, 3.75 and 3.93 (g GAE/kg cheese) in CM, PE and MR, respectively. FRAP assay detected a wide range of values: 1.77, 3.10 and 2.56 (mmol FeSO4/kg cheese) in CM, PE and MR, respectively. TEAC values (mmol Trolox/kg cheese) were signifi-cantly higher (p < .001) in CM (63.1) and MR (44.6) respect to PE (16.2) cheeses. In conclusion, values of fatty acids, vitamins, TCP, FRAP and TEAC characterize the single cheese because they are linked to the breed, feeding system, production season and ripen-ing phase. This gives them the characteristic of uniqueness.