Transformation of sheep milk into hard cheese and ricotta: Effect on fatty acid profile

The fatty acid (FA) profile of sheep milk fat distinguishes it both qualitative and quantitatively, among other reasons, because of the nutraceutical function of some FA present, such as conjugated linoleic acid isomers, rumenic acid and C18:2t10c12. The objective of this research was to determine whether heating sheep milk modifies the FA profile in the production of hard cheese and ricotta (R). Two independent experiments were designed: In Exp. 1, raw or pasteurized milk (LC) (LP) was transformed into hard cheese (QLC/QLP); In Exp. 2, R was obtained from raw milk. Samples of raw/pasteurized milk, R, and hard cheese were analyzed for FA profile by gas chromatography and expressed as g FA/100 g TFA. A multivariate descriptive analysis (Discriminant Analysis) and a separate (univariate) analysis were performed for each FA. For univariate analysis, the mean values of different FA for each treatment were analyzed by ANOVA with a 5% significance level, and when differences were significant, compared by Tukey test for Exp. 1 and Student t-test for Exp. 2. No significant differences in the mean FA profile were detected between treatments in both experiments. Thus, the heat treatment and cheese-making process applied to sheep milk did not alter the FA profile