Major Causes of Variation of External Appearance, Chemical Composition, Texture, and Color Traits of 37 Categories of Cheeses

Cheeses are produced by many different procedures, giving rise to many types differing in ripening time, size, shape, chemical composition, color, texture, and sensory properties. As the first step in a large project, our aim was to characterize and quantify the major sources of variation in cheese characteristics by sampling 1050 different cheeses manufactured by over 100 producers and grouped into 37 categories (16 with protected designation of origin, 4 traditional cheese categories, 3 pasta filata cheese categories, 5 flavored cheese categories, 2 goat milk categories, and 7 other categories ranging from very fresh to very hard cheeses). We obtained 17 traits from each cheese (shape, height, diameter, weight, moisture, fat, protein, water soluble nitrogen, ash, pH, 5 color traits, firmness, and adhesiveness). The main groups of cheese categories were characterized and are discussed in terms of the effects of the prevalent area of origin/feeding system, species of lactating females, main cheese-making technologies, and additives used. The results will allow us to proceed with the further steps, which will address the interrelationships among the different traits characterizing cheeses, detailed analyses of the nutrients affecting human health and sensorial fingerprinting.