Discrimination of Anari Cheese Samples in Comparison with Halloumi Cheese Samples Regarding the Origin of the Species by FTIR Measurements and Chemometrics

Nowadays, adulteration of traditional food products is a very important field in the general food authenticity sector. Moreover, it is important to create databases with authentic traditional products. In Cyprus, research about the traditional dairy products is scarce. Anari is predominantly made from goat’s and sheep’s milk, but milk from cows can also be used. It is produced during the process of Halloumi cheese making. Classification of Halloumi and Anari cheese took place in two classes, thus per cheese type, and after that in milk species subclasses such as cow and goat-sheep origins for each cheese type. This research study aims to enlighten the field of food authenticity in terms of traditional Cypriot dairy products. The first step of the methodology is the freeze-drying process for lyophilization of samples. Forty-four samples have been analyzed thus far, including both Halloumi and Anari cheese. Measurements for each sample were obtained by using Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Interpretation of the extensive data was undertaken via Orthogonal Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), and through the SIMCA chemometrics package. Characterization of Anari cheese by applying FTIR took place. In terms of cheese type, Halloumi and Anari cheese samples were classified correctly. In addition, Anari samples were classified correctly regarding the milk species’ origin. The proposed experimental procedure along with chemometrics allow the detection of the milk species’ origin of traditional Anari samples, highlighting the importance of FTIR spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics in food authenticity. Creation of a database with Anari samples from Cyprus has started, and this is a very important step towards authenticity of traditional dairy products of Cyprus.