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. 2023 Aug 15:14:1196879.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1196879. eCollection 2023.

The microbiota of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO cheese: a study across the manufacturing process

Alessia Levante  1 , Gaia Bertani  1 , Martina Marrella  1 , Germano Mucchetti  1 , Valentina Bernini  1 , Camilla Lazzi  1 , Erasmo Neviani  1
Affiliations

The microbiota of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO cheese: a study across the manufacturing process

Alessia Levante et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO cheese (MBC) is a globally esteemed Italian cheese. The traditional cheesemaking process of MBC relies on natural whey starter culture, water buffalo's milk, and the local agroecosystem.

Methods: In this study, the microbial ecology of intermediate samples of MBC production, coming from two dairies with slightly different cheesemaking technology (dairy M large producer, and dairy C medium-small), was investigated using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. This research aimed to provide insights into the dynamics of microbial consortia involved in various cheesemaking steps.

Results and discussion: All samples, except for raw buffalo milk, exhibited a core microbiome predominantly composed of Streptococcus spp. and Lactobacillus spp., albeit with different ratios between the two genera across the two MBC producers. Notably, the microbiota of the brine from both dairies, analyzed using 16S amplicon sequencing for the first time, was dominated by the Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera, while only dairy C showed the presence of minor genera such as Pediococcus and Lentilactobacillus. Intriguingly, the final mozzarella samples from both producers displayed an inversion in the dominance of Lactobacillus spp. over Streptococcus spp. in the microbiota compared to curd samples, possibly attributable to the alleviation of thermal stress following the curd stretching step. In conclusion, the different samples from the two production facilities did not exhibit significant differences in terms of the species involved in MBC cheesemaking. This finding confirms that the key role in the MBC cheesemaking process lies with a small-sized microbiome primarily composed of Streptococcus and Lactobacillus spp.

Keywords: 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing; Lactobacillus spp.; Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO; Streptococcus spp.; fermented food; lactic acid bacteria; microbial community; natural whey starter.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer GT declared a past co-authorship with the author AL to the handling Editor.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alpha-diversity indices calculated for water buffalo mozzarella samples. (A) Alpha-diversity according to the nature of the samples (dairy = Cheese, curd, milk, NWS). (B) Alpha-diversity according to dairy production plant: M, dairy M; C, dairy C.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relative abundance of taxa based on 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing; only bacterial genera with an abundance above 0.1% are shown.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree representing the most abundant ASVs in the dataset. Next to each tree tip, a graphic representation summarizes the abundance of the sequence in each sample, colored according to production dairy, shaped according to the sample type, and sized according to the absolute abundance.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relative abundance of ASVs at the species level based on 16S rRNA sequencing; only bacterial genera with an abundance above 0.5% are shown.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Non-metric dimensional scaling (NMDS) of water buffalo mozzarella samples according to their microbiota. (A) Clustering of samples from dairy C (circles) and dairy M (triangles); samples are colored according to the sample type. (B) Distribution of bacterial ASVs along the NMDS axes; taxa are colored according to the assigned genus.
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