The Cheeses of Italy: Science and Technology, 1st ed. 2018

The book will contain a detailed description on the historical aspects of cheese manufacture, a culmination of historical information on the most traditional and worldwide popular Italian cheese varieties. An overview on cheese production is also included, covering the main general aspects. An overall classification of Italian cheeses will follow, aiming to categorize all the cheese varieties that have a tradition and/or an economic importance. Based on a large literature review, the core of the book will include descriptions cheese making traits which are unique to Italian cheese biotechnology. In particular, the milk chemical composition, the use whey or milk natural starters, some technology options (e.g., curd cooking), the microbiota composition and metabolism during curd ripening, especially for cheese made with raw milk, and the main relevant biochemical events, which occur during the very long-time ripening, will be described. The last part of the book will consider a detailed description of the biotechnology for the manufacture of the most traditional and popular cheeses worldwide.

Chapter 1: The orgins of cheesemaking.- Chapter 2: The history and culture of Italian cheeses in the middle age.- Chapter 3: Cheese: an overview.- Chapter 4: Classification of cheese.- Chapter 5: The distinguishing features of Italian cheese manufacture.- Chapter 6: The most traditional and popular Italian cheeses.     

Erasmo Neviani is full professor of Agricultural Microbiology since 2002 at the Food and Drug Department of the University of Parma. Formerly, he has been Dean of Faculty of Agriculture– University of Parma (2009-2012), Head of Microbiology and Enzymology Department of Dairy Research Institute (Lodi, Italy) of Italian Ministry of Agriculture (1996-2002) and President of SIMTREA – Italian Society of Agricultural, Food and Environment (2013-2015).

His main research areas concern Food Microbiology with a specific expertise in Dairy microbiology. The main part of his research work was dedicated to the study of lactic acid bacteria used in Dairy fermentations, with particular regard to their technological performances. His research activity can be resumed as follows: [i] Microbiology and technology of dairy products; [ii] Molecular microbiology and biotechnology of lactic acid bacteria [iii] population dynamics and behavior of lactic acid bacteria in food fermentation; [iv] microbial interactions in natural food ecosystems; [v] microbial enzymatic activities and cheese ripening; [vi] food safety and processing; and [vii] human intestinal microbiome in response todie