Dynamics of a natural bacterial community under technological and environmental pressures: the case of natural whey starter for parmigiano reggiano cheese.
Abstract
Natural starter cultures are undefined multiple-strains culture communities of mostly thermophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB), in association with minor amounts of mesophilic bacteria, which structure could be affected by small changes in the parameters of the cheese/whey-making process. This study aims to investigate the complex microbiota of natural whey starter (NWS) used in Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) cheese-making, focusing on both the absolute and relative abundance of bacterial species and on the modification of the bacterial community under environmental and technological pressures. To reach this purpose a combined approach, using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS), was used to investigate the bacterial dynamics of 91 whey samples collected during different steps of PR cheese-making, in one dairy, through two different lines of production, one Conventional and one Organic, over a 10 weeks period. Our results highlighted that NWS used for the production of PR cheese is a dynamic microbial community, which adapts to the different technological parameters encountered in the cheese/NWS manufacturing process, while retaining a high level of resilience of the thermophilic LAB species mainly involved in the steps of curd acidification and the early maturation process. Differences were also observed in bacterial species diversity between samples from Conventional and Organic line but, in conclusion, NWS resulted to be shaped by technological treatments, regardless of its initial different composition.
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The whey left after manufacturing has a unique temperature, chemical composition, and microflora, varying by species and biotypes depending on the chosen technology and type of milk.
“The whey left after manufacturing has a unique temperature, chemical composition, and microflora, varying by species and biotypes depending on the chosen technology and type of milk [21,59,73,76,80,109,110,111,112].”
From Microbiota of Cheese Ecosystems: A Perspective on Cheesemaking (2025) · cites this paper as [109]
In natural whey starter used to produce Italian long ripened cooked cheeses, an LAB consortium coevolved during adaptation to whey and curd acidification.
“Also, in natural whey starter (NWS) used to produce Italian long ripened cooked cheeses, it has been observed that an LAB consortium coevolved during adaptation to whey and curd acidification [109].”
From Microbiota of Cheese Ecosystems: A Perspective on Cheesemaking (2025) · cites this paper as [109]
Curds from all dairies were dominated by L. helveticus and L. delbrueckii, which derive from the natural whey starter used for cheese making.
“Curds from all dairies were, in fact, dominated by the species L. helveticus and L. delbrueckii, which derive from the natural whey starter used for cheese making (De Filippis et al., 2014; Bertani et al., 2020).”
From The Interrelationship Between Microbiota and Peptides During Ripening as a Driver for Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Quality (2020) · cites this paper as Bertani et al., 2020
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- Authors
- Bertani, G., Levante, A., Lazzi, C., Bottari, B., Gatti, M., & Neviani, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Parma (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Bertani, Gaia
- Levante, Alessia
- Venue
- Food Research International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-03
- Volume
- 129
- Pages
- 108860
- ISSN
- 0963-9969 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2990197351
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 4.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Food Research International (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Fermentation and Sensory Analysis
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Advanced Scientific Research Methods
- Keywords
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, thermophilic lactic acid bacteria, bacterial community dynamics, microbial community resilience, cheese production, bacterial diversity, cheese ripening, dairy microbiology
- MeSH terms
- Whey, Bacteria, Cheese, Food Microbiology, Humans, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Bacterial Physiological Phenomena, Microbiota
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