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A milk protein against the blue mozzarella

A study conducted at the ISPA - CNR Bari has identified the pigment at the base of the blue color of the mozzarella and developed an innovative method to inhibit the growth of such alteration. The results were published in the Food Microbiology journal.

Blue Mozzarella has no secrets anymore. Researchers at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production CNR Bari (ISPA - CNR) have shown that the discoloration of the mozzarella is due to the presence of a pigment, the indigoidina, produced by strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens. These bacteria can contaminate the liquid government of mozzarella in cold storage and cause the appearance of odors and discoloration of the cheese in the early days after their production.

The study, conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Experimental Zooprofilattico Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta, was published in the American journal Food Microbiology.

“After identifying the microorganisms responsible for the alteration of mozzarella -  the ISPA-CNR researcher Leonardo Caputo explains - we have developed a method to inhibit the proliferation of these bacteria and proteolytic pigmenting”.

“Since the use of antibiotics is prohibited in the food industry - continues Caputo - we chose to use peptides derived lactoferrin, milk protein, normally found in supplements and products for children. The addition of this derivative to the liquid preservation of mozzarella inhibits bacterial growth and thus the development of the blue pigment, extending the shelf-life of the product in cold storage”.

“Now we are trying to identify - concludes Caputo - factors that promote the increase of the populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens alterative in the microbiota of mozzarella and understand the mechanisms by which antimicrobial peptides derived from lactoferrin slow bacterial growth and inhibit the production of indigoidina in mozzarella”.

This work was awarded for the originality and the thickness by the Italian Scientific Technical Milk at the 4th Congress of the dairy held in Padova this September.

The results obtained by researchers at the ISPA-CNR Bari strategic importance in the dairy sector and will contribute in the future to improve the technique of production and preservation of mozzarella cheese Italian famous throughout the world.


In brief

About: ISPA - CNR, Bari

What: Identification of the pigment responsible for the blue color of the mozzarella and using a derivative of a milk protein to inhibit this alteration of the mozzarella.

Study published in Food Microbiology (2015), pp. 15-24, (online: 26. 07.2014);
Information DOI: 10.1016 / j.fm.2014.06.021 - Pepsin-digested bovine lactoferrin Prevents Mozzarella cheese blue discoloration Caused by Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Authors: Leonardo Caputo, Quintieri Laura, Daniela Bianchi Manila, Decastelli Lucia, Linda Monks, Angelo Visconti and Federico Baruzzi.

For information:
Leonardo Caputo, ISPA-CNR Bari, tel. 080/5929323, cell. 347-9373806, email: leonardo.caputo@ispa.cnr.it