Evaluation of oxidative damage in mozzarella cheese produced from
bovine or water buffalo milk

Abstract
Technological processes are the main sources of protein and lipid oxidation in food. The oxidative status was determined in a soft
Italian cheese, namely mozzarella, produced from water buffalo or bovine milk. The amount of protein-bound carbonyls, dityrosine
and a-lactalbumin aggregates were measured to evaluate the extent of protein oxidation. The a-tocopherylquinone/a-tocopherol
ratio and the trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity were used as redox markers in the fat fraction. The levels of protein-bound
carbonyls and a-lactalbumin aggregates were found significantly higher in bovine mozzarella than in buffalo mozzarella. On the
other hand, higher amounts of redox markers were found in buffalo mozzarella. The levels of dityrosine aggregates were similar in
the two types of cheese. The data suggest that protein and fat are more protected against oxidative structure alterations in buffalo
mozzarella than in bovine mozzarella. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

[size=xx-large]oxidation damage[/size]