Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Serra da Estrela is a Portuguese traditional cheese produced with raw ewe’s milk from “Churra Mondegueira” and “Bordaleira”
autochthonous breeds and the wild thistle flower (Cynara cardunculus L.), which benefits from the status of Protected
Designation of Origin. Cheese chemical composition, namely the fatty acids profile, depends on milk composition and on
manufacturing practices. Thus, the identification of possible chemical biomarkers capable of classifying Serra da Estrela
cheeses according to the dairy manufacturing plant, geographical origin or production date would be of utmost relevance
for producers and consumers. A typical fatty acids profile, including 23 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, was identified
for the studied cheeses, being butyric, caproic, caprilic, capric, lauric, miristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and
its trans-isomer and α-linolenic acids the most abundant ones (relative mean abundances ranging from 1.4% ± 0.5% to
23.9% ± 1.9%). Linear discriminant models were established based on the most discriminative fatty acids (namely, caproic,
caprilic, undecanoic, lauric, pentadecanoic, palmitic, palmitoleic, heptadecanoic, oleic, linoleic trans-isomer, heneicosanoic
and arachidonic acids) that included less abundant fatty acids, which were selected using the simulated annealing algorithm.
The established models enabled assessing cheeses’ origin (models based on 10–12 fatty acids) and/or production date (model
based on 20 fatty acids) with predictive sensitivities of 71–88%. Therefore, fatty acids profiles coupled with chemometric
techniques, could be foreseen as a fingerprint of cheese’s genuineness, enhancing the consumers’ confidence when purchasing
this high-value cheese.
Description
Keywords
Fatty acids profile Linear discriminant analysis Origin assessment Serra da Estrela cheese Simulated annealing algorithm
Citation
Reis Lima, M. J.; Bahri, Hamdi; Sá Morais, Jorge; Veloso, Ana C.A.; Fontes, Luísa; Lemos, Edite T.; Peres, António M. (2019). Assessing Serra da Estrela PDO cheeses’ origin-production date using fatty acids profiles. Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization. ISSN 2193-4126. 13, p. 2988-2997