phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:4897 DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1617995 Microbial dynamics in the ripening process of Vorarlberger Alpkäse: farm-specific variations at two Austrian alpine farms Introduction: Vorarlberger Alpkäse (VA) is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Austrian heritage cheese produced from raw milk during the summer grazing period in the Alps. In addition to conducting clinical examinations of cows whose raw milk is used for VA cheese production, this study investigates the microbiota of raw milk and cheese from two alpine farms. Methods: Raw milk, curd, and cheese core samples were collected and analysed using qPCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to determine bacterial loads and the microbial community composition. Results: The microbial community in raw milk showed significant variation in alpha diversity and taxonomy during the alpine sojourn, with Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Paenibacillus and Lactobacillus being dominant. The cheese curd microbiota was initially diverse, with Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, the Shigella complex, Lactobacillus and Hafnia-Obesumbacterium being most abundant. During ripening, Lactobacillus became the predominant genus, while the overall diversity decreased. Discussion: Differences in microbial communities were observed between the two farms, likely due to variations in production conditions and domestic microbiota. These findings highlight the impact of alpine farming practices on the raw milk and cheese microbiota, influencing the unique characteristics of VA. eng Cheese Ripening Microbial Dynamics Alpine Pasture Raw Milk Microbial Community Traditional Cheese Dairy Milk Microbiota 2026-02-06T09:35:17.607Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Kuenz;Johannes Josef; FN:Johannes Josef Kuenz END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Roch;Franz-Ferdinand; FN:Franz-Ferdinand Roch X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5493-7873 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Dzieciol;Monika; FN:Monika Dzieciol X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0972-6241 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Sofka;Dmijtri; FN:Dmijtri Sofka X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6631-5967 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Hilbert;Friederike; FN:Friederike Hilbert X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1335-6770 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Selberherr;Evelyne; FN:Evelyne Selberherr X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2253-5247 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 4918564 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4897 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4897/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline