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 polyunsaturated 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.