The Natural Whey Starter Used in the Production of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Cheeses: A Complex Microbial Community
Open accessAbstract
Natural whey starter (NWS) is an undefined complex culture used in the production of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheeses. The aim of this review is to discuss, in light of the latest research results, the role of NWS as a primary player in the cheese-making process, considering the microbial community scenario. NWS is traditionally produced by fermenting part of the whey collected at the end of a previous cheese-making process. The method used to produce NWS, based on the back-slopping principle, favors the selection of a microbiota composed mainly of thermophilic lactic acid bacteria. This method of preparation induces the survival of several different species and biotypes. The presence of such a mixture of strains facilitates the development of a natural starter characterized by a remarkable ability to adapt to non-standardized cheese-making parameters. NWS is a microbial community whose activity is not simply the result of the sum of the activities of individual microorganisms, but rather the activity of the community as a whole, in which each individual bacterial cell responds to the presence of the others. According to this traditional protocol, the NWS becomes the ‘microbiological bond’ between cheeses over time.
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The third group is more diverse and abundant in artisanal cheeses and is functional in the curd fermentation process and capable of adapting to technological stress factors.
“This group is more diverse and abundant in artisanal cheeses and, although not a biological element of stability and continuity in the ecosystem like natural whey starter, is functional in the curd fermentation process and capable of adapting to technological stress factors [8,123,124].”
From Microbiota of Cheese Ecosystems: A Perspective on Cheesemaking (2025) · cites this paper as [124]
Section 2 describes lactic acid bacteria as central to curd fermentation and says changing production conditions affect the microbiota’s ability to adapt. It does not establish that the cited group is more diverse or abundant in artisanal cheeses, or specifically show that this group adapts to technological stresses; those parts of the claim remain unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Microbiota of Cheese Ecosystems: A Perspective on Cheesemaking
Neviani, E., Gatti, M., Gardini, F., & Levante, A. (2025) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods14050830 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
“This group is more diverse and abundant in artisanal cheeses and, although not a biological element of stability and continuity in the ecosystem like natural whey starter, is functional in the curd fermentation process and capable of adapting to technological stress factors [8,123,124].”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Neviani, E.
- Affiliations
- International Dairy Federation (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Neviani, Erasmo
- ORCID
- Neviani, Erasmo
- Venue
- Microorganisms
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2024-11-27
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2443
- ISSN
- 2076-2607 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11679781
- OpenAlex
- W4404755744
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 0.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Microorganisms (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- 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
- Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, PDO cheese, backslopping, thermophilic lactic acid bacteria, microbial communities, cheese production, whey fermentation, cheese aging
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