Pedanius dioscorides' remarks on milk properties, quality and processing technology

Pedanius Dioscorides (active in the 1st century AD), the Greek-writing author of De materia medica, left a great deal of information on milk and dairy products, emphasising their therapeutic properties and applications. In doing so, he included numerous pieces of information on the production and culinary uses of individual dairy products, and provided priceless data on the technologies of food processing. As a result, the work of Dioscorides is also replete with indications concerning the state of the ancient economy and occasionally the history of Mediterranean societies.