Fatty acid composition of Piedmont "Ossolano" cheese

Fatty acid composition of 66 samples of "Ossolano", a typical semi-hard cheese produced from raw cow milk in the Ossola valley (North Piedmont, West Italy) was determined. The survey was carried out on 24 summer cheeses produced in mountain farms (1500-2200 m) with milk from pasture-fed cows and 42 winter cheeses produced in valley farms (500-800 m) with milk from hay- and concentrate-fed cows. Seasonal variation in feeding condition was responsible for the observed variations in fatty acid composition of the samples. Long-chain mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids were more abundant in the summer cheeses while short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids were higher in winter products. The ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids was thus lower in summer cheeses compared with winter cheeses. Conjugated linoleic acids, n-3 and n-6 acids were instead higher in summer cheeses according to the results of many authors. The n-6/n-3 ratio is lower in the summer products with an interesting nutritional effect due to the essential role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in human health.