Traceability of Asiago Mountain Cheese: A Rapid, Low-Cost Analytical Procedure for its Identification Based on Solid-Phase Microextraction

The traceability of Asiago mountain cheese was established by analyzing samples of herbaceous species, milk, and cheese of mountain origin using the head-space solid-phase microextraction sampling procedure coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. As preliminary work had highlighted the characteristic presence of sesquiterpenes in Asiago mountain cheese, these species were considered effective markers of mountain origin. Systematic qualitative analysis, carried out using a carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fiber, revealed several sesquiterpenes in mountain herbage and milk, in particular β-caryophyllene and α-humulene, in Asiago mountain cheese, confirming sesquiterpenes as markers of cheese produced from animals grazing on mountain pastures. Analysis was performed on 19 samples of herbage, 8 of milk, and 8 of cheese, collected in summer from 4 mountain farms on the Asiago plateau. For quantitative analysis of caryophyllene in cheese, polydimethylsiloxane fiber sampling, coupled with the standard addition method to eliminate matrix effect, was preferred. The amount of β-caryophyllene found ranged from 21 to 65 μg/kg.