Discrimination of Anari Cheese Samples in Comparison with Halloumi Cheese Samples Regarding the Origin of the Species by FTIR Measurements and Chemometrics
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Review: analytica-2514277
The manuscript addresses an important research issue: authenticity identification.
I suggest some additions and corrections to the manuscript.
These are:
- Halloumi (Halloumi) and Anari (Anari) cheeses are special Cypriot cheeses.
As can be seen in Table 1, no research results are available so far for the latter. Therefore, I would suggest that the Introduction section should be completed with a description of the characteristics of the two types of cheese and their comparison.
- Since the samples were obtained commercially, it would be useful to include a table in Supplement with the characteristics of the samples as indicated on the packaging (e.g. fat content, protein content, etc.).
- The name of the freeze-drier (line 104) should be supplemented by the name of the manufacturer and the country.
- Lines 124-125: Chemometric interpretation of the data (variables) revealed that only the sub-regions 3000-2800 and 1700-1090 cm-1 from FTIR spectra were important to proceed with.
Please add which molecular properties are associated with the selected regions.
- Line 126: What criteria were used to select the samples for test set validation?
- Figure 1. : A characteristic difference between the spectra of goat & sheep and cow cheese can also be seen between 2400-2300 cm-1. What could cause this discrepancy?
- Lines 128, 173, 180, 203, 206 The upper/lower indices should be observed
- Lines 188-189 Halloumi and Anari cheese are two different cheese types with different recipes with different spectroscopically characteristics.
Unfortunately, this is not shown, there is no such figure in the manuscript. I strongly recommend that this be also shown.
- Figure 2, Figure 5, Table 1, - For me, the numbering of sample groups is confusing. Why is the numbering 2 left out?
- Lines 249-250: This study confirms the originality of both Cypriot cheese products, Halloumi and Anari, postulating that both cheeses are correctly classified based on cheese type.
- I can only partially agree with this statement. The classification was indeed successful. However, there is no information on whether the commercially obtained samples were indeed pure Anari and Halloumi samples. Is there any evidence of this?
Author Response
Please see our responses in red.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript entitled “Discrimination of Anari Compared with Halloumi Cheese Samples Regarding Species’ Origin by FTIR Measurements and Chemometrics” has the following aim to assess the adulteration of traditional dairy products in Cyprus, as the detection of adulteration or mislabeling is of great interest in terms of consumer protection, as well as safeguarding the economic interests of producers. More specifically, the aim of this study was firstly to differentiate between Halloumi and Anari cheese samples, thus distinguishing between types of cheese, and secondly to determine adulteration in Anari cheese according to the origin of the milk.
This aim is in line with Analytica’s (MDPI) objective of encouraging scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. The journal publishes articles on all aspects of fundamental and applied analytical chemistry, including spectroscopy (chemo- and bioluminescence, fluorescence, UV/Vis, NMR, IR, MS, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, absorption, and emission spectroscopy).
The present work proved to be very relevant for its practical implications and scientifically detailed.
The introduction describes the two cheeses studied, namely Anari and Halloumi. It also explains how the former can be considered as a by-product of the latter, since it is produced during the Halloumi cheese production process.
An extensive list of studies (about 15) on Halloumi and Kefalotyri cheeses is also presented, pointing out that for Anari, a widely consumed product, many publications are not available in the literature.
The purpose of the work, as stated in the introduction, is respected, and reinforced by the experimental part and the discussion of the results.
Overall, the manuscript is of good quality, fluent and clear in content.
A few minor suggestions are made which, in my opinion, could further improve the overall quality of the manuscript.
Title
I would recommend slightly modifying the title as follows: “Discrimination of Anari cheese samples in comparison with Halloumi cheese samples regarding the origin of the species by FTIR measurements and chemometrics”.
Abstract
Lines 13-14: “Classification of Halloumi and Anari cheese in two classes, thus 13 per cheese type, as well as in milk subclasses such as cow and goat-sheep origins per type of cheese”. This sentence lacks a verb. I would suggest that it be amended.
Introduction
Line 82: Change “halloumi” to “Halloumi”.
Conclusion
There is no paragraph for conclusions. I would recommend adding one.
Author Response
Please see our responses in red.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors have answered the questions raised and corrected the shortcomings identified.
I accept the manuscript for publication.
