ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1617995
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobial Dynamics and Safety in Cheese Production and AgingView all articles
Microbial dynamics in the ripening process of Vorarlberger Alpkäse: Farm-specific variations at two Austrian alpine farms
Provisionally accepted
Johannes Josef Künz
Franz-Ferdinand Roch
Monika DzieciolDmijtri Sofka
Friederike Hilbert
Evelyne Selberherr*- University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Vorarlberger Alpkäse (VA) is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Austrian heritage cheese produced from raw milk during the summer grazing period in the Alps. In addition to conducting clinical examinations of cows whose raw milk is used for VA cheese production, this study investigates the microbiota of raw milk and cheese from two alpine farms. Raw milk, curd, and cheese core samples were collected and analysed using qPCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to determine bacterial loads and the microbial community composition.The microbial community in raw milk showed significant variation in alpha diversity and taxonomy during the alpine sojourn, with Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Paenibacillus and Lactobacillus being dominant. The cheese curd microbiota was initially diverse, with Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, the Shigella complex, Lactobacillus and Hafnia-Obesumbacterium being most abundant. During ripening, Lactobacillus became the predominant genus, while the overall diversity decreased. Differences in microbial communities were observed between the two farms, likely due to variations in production conditions and domestic microbiota. These findings highlight the impact of alpine farming practices on the raw milk and cheese microbiota, influencing the unique characteristics of VA.
Keywords: cheese ripening, microbial dynamics, Alpine pasture, raw milk, microbial community, Traditional cheeses, Dairy, Milk microbiota
Received: 25 Apr 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Künz, Roch, Dzieciol, Sofka, Hilbert and Selberherr. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Evelyne Selberherr, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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