| Quality deviations in Austrian mountain cheese production — particularly cracking, irregular eye formation, and aromatic off-flavours (RLAAs) — represent one of the most significant challenges for producers. RLAAs frequently lead to downgrading or rejection of entire batches and cause substantial economic losses. To date, the underlying causes of these defects are insufficiently understood. cureCHEESES addresses this gap by investigating the microbiological, chemical, and technological mechanisms that give rise to RLAAs. The overarching goal is to establish scientifically grounded foundations for sustainable defect prevention in mountain cheese production.
At the core of the project lies the question of how RLAAs emerge and, subsequently, how they can be prevented. To this end, a three-year on-site monitoring programme will be carried out in close collaboration with four selected mountain cheese dairies in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In parallel, RLAA-associated and defect-free cheese samples will be analysed microbiologically, chemically, and sensorially. Using advanced methods such as genome and microbiome sequencing, metatranscriptomics, and chemical profiling, the project will identify the defect-causing microorganisms and the functional metabolic processes involved.
An additional innovative approach is the analysis of plant-derived DNA in milk, whey, and cheese to explore the relationship between cow diet and product quality. The generation of detailed plant profiles in mountain cheese will be tested for the first time within this project and opens new opportunities for product authentication and for examining potential correlations between plant profiles and RLAAs. Furthermore, in vitro studies will be conducted to develop microbial protective consortia. By employing high-throughput cultivation systems, synergistic microbial combinations will be identified that may provide complementary protective functions (e.g., pH modulation, lactate degradation, production of antimicrobial metabolites). These autochthonous, dairy-specific microbes could in the future be used as an extension to existing starter cultures to suppress the growth of defect-causing bacteria.
cureCHEESES directly contributes to the objectives of the DAFNE programme — particularly to improving resource efficiency (Section 3.3) and ensuring quality, transparency, and food security (Section 3.4). |