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Research Progress in Detection Technology for Dairy Food Quality and...
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Research Progress in Detection Technology for Dairy Food Quality and Safety

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Dairy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 6 August 2026 | Viewed by 3574

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gabriele Rocchetti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Interests: foodomics; feedomics; food chemistry; cheese; milk; food quality and traceability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ensuring the quality and safety of dairy products remains a top priority in food science and public health. With increasing consumer demand for transparency, authenticity, and nutritional value, there is a growing need for advanced, reliable, and rapid detection technologies throughout the dairy supply chain. This Special Issue aims to gather cutting-edge research and innovative applications in analytical methods and sensor technologies designed to monitor and assess the quality, safety, traceability, and authenticity of dairy foods. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, novel approaches in spectroscopic analysis, chromatography, biosensors, lab-on-a-chip systems, and multi-omics tools. Particular attention will be given to integrated platforms and data fusion strategies that combine chemical, microbiological, and physical analyses to provide a comprehensive assessment of dairy matrices. Contributions focusing on real-time monitoring, non-destructive testing, and high-throughput screening are especially welcome. We invite researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies to contribute original research articles, reviews, and case studies that highlight recent progress and emerging trends in this field.

Dr. Gabriele Rocchetti
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dairy quality
  • food safety
  • detection technology
  • spectroscopy
  • chromatography
  • biosensors
  • multi-omics
  • data fusion
  • non-destructive testing
  • high-throughput analysis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 809 KB  
Article
Detection, Identification, and Diffusion of Yeasts Responsible for Structural Defects in Provolone Valpadana PDO Cheese Using Multiple Research Techniques
by Miriam Zago, Barbara Bonvini, Lia Rossetti, Milena Povolo, Luca Ballasina, Vittorio Emanuele Pisani, Flavio Tidona and Giorgio Giraffa
Foods 2026, 15(1), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15010129 - 1 Jan 2026
Viewed by 552
Abstract
The aim of this work was to identify the microbial agent(s) responsible for a structural defect in Provolone Valpadana, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese, and to establish their spread along the production line. Repeated sampling of defective cheeses and analyses of processing [...] Read more.
The aim of this work was to identify the microbial agent(s) responsible for a structural defect in Provolone Valpadana, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese, and to establish their spread along the production line. Repeated sampling of defective cheeses and analyses of processing intermediates following two inspections at the cheese factory identified yeasts as the main causative agents. Microbiological analysis highlighted an almost constant presence of yeasts, which dominate over the other microbial groups. Forty yeast isolates from defective cheeses were identified by sequencing the D1/D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, and Debaryomyces hansenii dominated in all sampled cheeses, followed by D. tyrocola, Pichia kudriavzevii, and Torulaspora delbrueckii. Yeast and bacterial metabarcoding on three cheeses with a yeast count > log 4.0 CFU/mL indicated D. hansenii as the dominant yeast taxon and confirmed the absence of gas-producing bacterial taxa. RAPD-PCR analysis suggested the presence of yeast biofilms in the dairy environment or along the production line, as confirmed by the repeated isolation of specific genotypes of S. cerevisiae, K. marxianus, and D. hansenii in different defective cheeses sampled between April and August 2023, as well as in samples taken following two inspections at the production site, during cheese processing and ripening. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress in Detection Technology for Dairy Food Quality and Safety)
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17 pages, 1727 KB  
Article
An Integrated Approach in Assessing the Food-Related Properties of Microparticulated and Fermented Whey
by Sara Khazzar, Stefania Balzan, Arzu Peker, Laura Da Dalt, Federico Fontana, Elisabetta Garbin, Federica Tonolo, Graziano Rilievo, Enrico Novelli and Severino Segato
Foods 2025, 14(19), 3421; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14193421 - 4 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1317
Abstract
As native bovine whey (WHEY) poses environmental concerns as a high-water-content by-product, this trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a thermal–mechanical microparticulation coupled with a fermentative process to concentrate it into a high-protein soft dairy cream. Compared to native whey, in microparticulated [...] Read more.
As native bovine whey (WHEY) poses environmental concerns as a high-water-content by-product, this trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a thermal–mechanical microparticulation coupled with a fermentative process to concentrate it into a high-protein soft dairy cream. Compared to native whey, in microparticulated (MPW) and fermented (FMPW) matrices, there was a significant increase in proteins (from 0.7 to 8.8%) and lipids (from 0.3 to 1.3%), and a more brilliant yellowness colour. A factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) showed that FMPW had a higher content of saturated fatty acid (SFA) and some specific polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) n-6, and also identified C14:0, C18:1, C18:1 t-11, C18:2 n-6, and C18:3 n-6 as informative biomarkers of microparticulation and fermentative treatments. The SDS-PAGE indicated no effects on the protein profile but indicated its rearrangement into high molecular weight aggregates. Z-sizer and transmission electron microscopy analyses confirmed a different supramolecular structure corresponding to a higher variability and greater incidence of very large molecular aggregates, suggesting that MPW could be accounted as a colloidal matrix that may have similar ball-bearing lubrication properties. Microparticulation of whey could facilitate its circularity into the dairy supply chain through its re-generation from a waste into a high-value fat replacer for dairy-based food production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress in Detection Technology for Dairy Food Quality and Safety)
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Review

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22 pages, 2227 KB  
Review
Bovine Milk Polar Lipids: Lipidomics Advances and Functional Perspectives
by Giulia Fappani, Zhiqian Liu, Simone Rochfort and Gabriele Rocchetti
Foods 2026, 15(2), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15020256 - 10 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1173
Abstract
Bovine milk is a complex biological fluid whose lipid fraction plays essential roles in nutrition, processing, and product quality. While conventional analyses have traditionally focused on total fat content and fatty acid composition, recent advances in liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) have unveiled the [...] Read more.
Bovine milk is a complex biological fluid whose lipid fraction plays essential roles in nutrition, processing, and product quality. While conventional analyses have traditionally focused on total fat content and fatty acid composition, recent advances in liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) have unveiled the molecular diversity of polar lipids, particularly phospholipids and sphingolipids. These compounds, largely associated with the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), include key molecular species such as phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), sphingomyelin (SM), ceramides (Cer), and lysophospholipids, which collectively contribute to emulsion stability, flavor development, and bioactive functionality. This review summarizes current progress in the determination of sphingolipids and phospholipids in bovine milk, with a specific focus on analytical strategies enabling their accurate detection, identification, and quantification. We discuss how advanced LC–MS platforms have been applied to investigate factors shaping the milk polar lipidome, including lactation stage, animal diet, metabolic and inflammatory stress, and technological processing. Accumulating evidence indicates that specific lipid species and ratios, such as PC/PE balance, SM and ceramide profiles, and Lyso-PC enrichment, act as sensitive molecular indicators of membrane integrity, oxidative status, heat stress, and processing history. From an applied perspective, these lipidomic markers hold strong potential for dairy quality control, shelf-life assessment, and authenticity verification. Overall, advanced lipidomics provides a robust analytical framework to translate molecular-level lipid signatures into actionable tools for monitoring cow health, technological performance, and the nutritional valorization of bovine milk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress in Detection Technology for Dairy Food Quality and Safety)
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