The fungal microbiota usually growing on the cheese surface during ripening processes promote rind formation and the development of organoleptic characteristics, imparting positive sensory attributes to cheeses. As cheese contamination may also occur by undesirable molds, specific actions for preventing their growth are usually realized in dairy industries by using the antibiotic natamycin, which may represent a risk factor for human health and environmental sustainability. Here, agroindustrial by-products with natural antimicrobial properties, i.e. tannins and chitosan, were tested in a cheese-making trial producing PDO Tuscan pecorino cheese. Morphological and molecular methods revealed that the main components of rind fungal communities of PDO Tuscan pecorino cheese were represented by P. solitum, P. discolour and P. verrucosum. The use of chitosan on cheese rinds did not significantly affect the composition of rind fungal communities developing during the whole ripening process compared with controls treated with natamycin, whose numbers ranged from 3.4 ± 1.3 × 10³ to 3.2 ± 1.8 × 10⁴ and from 6.3 ± 3.5 × 10² to 4.0 ± 1.5 × 10⁴, respectively. Overall, grape marc tannins and chitosan did not significantly affect the number and composition of fungal communities developing during PDO Pecorino Toscano cheese ripening, as well as its physical, chemical and nutritional profiles, showing that they may represent effective alternatives to the antibiotic natamycin.

通常在成熟过程中在奶酪表面上生长的真菌菌群会促进果皮形成和感官特性的发展，从而赋予奶酪积极的感官特性。由于奶酪的污染也可能由不希望的霉菌引起，因此在乳制品行业中通常通过使用抗生素纳他霉素来实现防止其生长的特定措施，这可能代表着人类健康和环境可持续性的风险因素。在此，在生产PDO托斯卡纳pecorino奶酪的奶酪生产试验中，对具有天然抗菌特性的农用工业副产品，即单宁和壳聚糖进行了测试。形态学和分子方法表明，PDO托斯卡纳pecorino奶酪的果皮真菌群落的主要成分为P. solitum，P.变色和P. verrucosum。与用那他霉素处理的对照相比，壳聚糖在干酪外皮上的使用对整个成熟过程中发育的果皮真菌群落的组成没有显着影响，后者的数量范围为3.4±1.3×10 ³到3.2±1.8×10 ⁴和6.3。 ±3.5×10 ²至4.0±1.5×10 ⁴， 分别。总体而言，葡萄马克单宁和壳聚糖对PDO Pecorino Toscano奶酪成熟期间形成的真菌群落的数量和组成及其物理，化学和营养状况没有明显影响，表明它们可能代表着抗生素纳他霉素的有效替代品。