Valutazione preliminare della presenza di 3-cheto-4-colestene in Parmigiano Reggiano D.O.P.

The maximum percentage of cheese rind in Parmigiano Reggiano P.D.O. grated cheese is fixed at 18% by the product Specification. Purpose of the present study is to evaluate the presence of 3-keto-4-cholestene in grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and rind in diffe rent ages (12 and 24 months) and from different cleaning treatments of the rind (washing by water and dry scraping of the rind). The study analysed 31 samples of cheese rind and 10 samples of cheese by GC-MS, detecting the ratio betwe-en the area of 3-keto-4-cholestene and cholesterol. Preliminary data suggested that the absence of this molecule in the samples from the inner part of the wheel and its presence in the samples from the rind, could be used to discriminate the-se two kinds of samples. Regarding other variables (ages and cleaning treatment), due to low number of samples and high degree of varia-bility among samples from the sa-me group, it is not possible to defi-ne a significative correlation and further studies are needed.