Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese produced in Cyprus for centuries and its popularity has significantly risen over the past years. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was applied in the present research to characterize traditional Cyprus Halloumi bacterial diversity. Eighteen samples made by different milk mixtures and produced in different areas of the country were analyzed, to reveal that Halloumi's microbiome was mainly comprised by lactic acid bacteria (LAB), including Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus, as well as halophilic bacteria, such as Marinilactibacillus and Halomonas. Additionally, spore forming bacteria and spoilage bacteria, were also detected. Halloumi produced with the “traditional” method, had significantly richer bacterial diversity compared to Halloumi produced with the “industrial” method. Variations detected among the bacterial communities highlight the contribution of the initial microbiome that existed in milk and survived pasteurization, as well as factors associated with Halloumi manufacturing conditions, in the final microbiota composition shaping. Identification and characterization of Halloumi microbiome provides an additional, useful tool to characterize its typicity and probably safeguard it from fraud products that may appear in the market. Also, it may assist producers to further improve its quality and guarantee consumers' safety.

哈洛米（Halloumi）是一种半硬质奶酪，在塞浦路斯生产了几个世纪，在过去几年中，其受欢迎程度已大大提高。高通量测序（HTS）被用于本研究中以表征传统塞浦路斯哈洛米氏细菌的多样性。分析了在该国不同地区生产的18种由不同牛奶混合物制成的样品，发现Halloumi的微生物组主要由乳酸菌（LAB）组成，包括乳酸杆菌，亮粘菌和小球菌，以及嗜盐细菌，例如Marinilactibacillus和Halomonas。另外，还检测到了孢子形成细菌和腐败细菌。与用“工业”方法生产的哈洛米相比，“传统”方法生产的哈洛米具有更丰富的细菌多样性。在细菌群落之间检测到的变异突出了最初存在于牛奶中并经过巴氏灭菌法的微生物组的贡献，以及与哈洛米生产条件相关的因素在最终微生物群落组成塑造中的作用。Halloumi微生物组的鉴定和表征提供了一个额外的有用工具来表征其典型性，并可能使其免受市场上可能出现的欺诈产品的侵害。此外，它还可以帮助生产商进一步提高质量并保障消费者的安全。