Geologia e formaggio di fossa tra Romagna e Marche: caratteristiche geologiche e qualità organolettiche

“Fossa cheese” is a typical italian product of the Montefeltro area located between Marche and Emilia-Romagna regions. It is different from other cheeses because of its particular phase of maturation, the “infossamento”, that links the cheese to the “Malatestiane” lands of which it is original. In fact, in this area it is possible to find the typical truncated-cone pits, dug in sandstone rock where, by the XIV century, the people keep food inside in order to save it from the cold winter and from invaders. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between the geological features of two selected pits (Fossa Talamello - Emilia Romagna, Fossa Cartoceto - Marche) and the physical-chemical, microbiological, nutritional and sensory features of the cheese ripened in these two pits, in order to evaluate whether the ripening environment influence the qualitative features of the final product. Due to the interdisciplinarity of the study, it has been fundamental the collaboration with the “Institute of Food Sciences (ISA-CNR Avellino)”, where the characterization analysis of the cheese were performed, and the “Institute for Coastal Marine Environment (IAMC-CNR Capo Granitola)” that provided some instruments for the acquisition of microclimatic data related to the pits and performed the study and the characterization of the rocks that surround the two pits selected for the study. In the study, cheeses made from the same milk were used. In particular, a total of 40 quintals of cheese were put in the truncated-cone pits, dug in sandstone rock: 20 quintals in the Fossa Talamello and 20 quintals in the Fossa Cartoceto. Specific analyzes were conducted starting from milk and followed through the entire production chain up to the final product. To estimate if the ripening environment (geology of the pits, straw that lines the walls of the pits and microclimate of the pits) influences the qualitative and organoleptic characteristics of the cheese, the microclimate of the two studied areas was monitored in real time and specific analyzes were conducted on rock samples (taken from two sites) and straw that covers the walls of both pits.