The effect of dairy herd and industry-related factors on Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese-making traits evaluated by FT-IR spectroscopy

Parmigiano Reggiano protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese inherently exhibits variability due to the characteristics of the production system, contributing to heterogeneity in the composition and properties of milk used in the cheese-making process. This variability leads to variations in cheese yield and nutrient recoveries. The direct measurement of these traits is not feasible in routine practice. Therefore, among indirect analytical techniques, infrared spectroscopy could help to predict these traits from the milk spectra collected directly in the dairy plant. This work aimed to assess the impact of cow breed, farm, dairy factory, and production parameters on cheese-making traits prediction. The impact of this variability has been measured by prediction bias, using a stratified cross-validation. The results confirmed high variability across dairy industries and showed that breed had the highest influence. The use of milk spectra combined with chemometrics was feasible to characterize Parmigiano Reggiano PDO production. • Mid Infrared spectroscopy is a powerful way to monitor cheese-making efficiency. • The dairy factory influences the cheese-making of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO chain. • Herd and dairy influence the prediction of cheese-making traits. • The cow breed affects cheese-making within the PDO Consortium.