Characterisation of the geographical origin of buffalo milk and mozzarella cheese by means of analytical and spectroscopic determinations

Appreciation of qualified national products, together with a guaranteed reference for consumers, has become necessary in the field of dairy products. Indeed, the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) trademark has been assigned to numerous cheeses, such as buffalo milk mozzarella. In order to receive this designation, the raw materials have to be produced and processed in the specified region from which the product gets its name. Therefore, in order to determine the authenticity of typical dairy products it is necessary to determine the geographical origin of the milk and of the finished product obtained from it. Classical techniques, high performance ion chromatography (HPIC), inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) were used for determining different compounds in combination with chemometric methods for the geographical characterization of buffalo milk mozzarella cheeses originating from two areas of Southern Italy. Isotopic ratios (13C/12C and 15N/14N) and other variables were affected by the specific area of origin of milk samples, while NMR data, together with isotopic ratios, were useful for the discrimination of mozzarella samples.