New Microbial Cultures for Low-Galactose Pizza Cheese: Dalton Biotecnologie’s Innovation.

In an increasingly competitive market, the quality of food products and the ability to enhance them with distinctive features allow companies to strengthen customer relationships and open up new business opportunities. In the world of pizza, the color mozzarella takes on after baking adds value, also for the sensory characteristics associated with it. Defining the right degree of browning of mozzarella is currently one of the aspects in which producers are investing, in order to deliver a product that meets market expectations, both in Italy and internationally.

The Browning Issue: The Role of Galactose
The browning of mozzarella during baking is mainly caused by the Maillard reaction, a chemical process that occurs at high temperatures between reducing sugars (especially galactose) and the amino groups of proteins. In pizza cheese production, the use of conventional starters—such as commonly employed thermophilic cultures—typically leads to the metabolism of only lactose, leaving a significant amount of galactose undegraded.This residual sugar accumulates in the cheese and, during baking, actively participates in the Maillard reaction, promoting the formation of brown spots and often causing excessive browning of the product.

A Project to Reduce Galactose in Mozzarella
In response to this industrial need, Dalton Biotecnologie SRL recently completed a research project, in collaboration with the University of Teramo, aimed at developing microbial cultures capable of reducing or even eliminating galactose content and its contribution to the browning phenomenon. These cultures represent a useful tool for more precise control of the degree of browning in pizza cheese during baking.

Innovative Solutions for Real Added Value
The new cultures developed by Dalton Biotecnologie SRL, in collaboration with the University of Teramo, are based on microbial strains specifically selected for their ability to ferment galactose. This approach represents a technologically advanced and sustainable solution, offering a competitive edge to dairy companies operating in the pizza cheese sector. Reducing galactose in mozzarella for pizza is now a concrete and strategic frontier of innovation. Dairy companies can thus differentiate themselves in the market with an added value product, developed through targeted biotechnology, that meets the demands of today’s consumers and the quality standards required by the pizza industry.

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