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Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel

  • Authors:
    • Maria Pagoni
    • Anastasia Pagoni
    • Dimitrios Panagopoulos
    • Vassilios Zoumpourlis
    • Ioannis Michalopoulos
    • Annia Tsolakou
    • Nikolaos P. Rachaniotis
    • George Th. Tsangaris
    • Nikolaos Drakoulis
  • View Affiliations / Copyright

    Affiliations: Research Group of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece, Laboratory of Dairy Research, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, University of Piraeus, Piraeus 18534 Greece, Biomedical Applications Unit, Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), 11635 Athens, Greece, Centre of Systems Biology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
    Copyright: © Pagoni et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY 4.0].
  • Article Number: 10
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    Published online on: October 15, 2025
       https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2025.51
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Abstract

The production of traditional feta cheese of protected designation of origin (feta PDO) involves the use of traditional wooden barrels or large tins. Increasingly, studies have highlighted the beneficial role of wooden dairy equipment in enriching milk microbiota and enhancing acidification processes. The present study aimed to assess the hygiene, processing conditions and microbiological quality of feta PDO produced traditionally. Samples were collected at various stages of ripening. These samples included pasteurised milk, biofilm, feta cheese and brine. The present study focused on the hygiene and safety aspects of the production process, including the microbial populations present on the internal surfaces of the wooden barrels used in cheese production. The analysis confirmed that the barrels met safety criteria, as no major pathogenic microorganisms were detected in compliance with legislative standards. The low microbial content of the cheese samples, particularly the absence of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, reflected excellent hygienic practices throughout the production process. Factors contributing to this outcome included effective heat treatment, proper refrigeration and rigorous hygiene during maturation and storage. On the whole, these findings suggest that feta PDO cheese production follows a well‑established, standardised process that is fully compliant with current national legislation.
View Figures

Figure 1

Microbiological sampling of the aged
beech barrel used for the maturation of feta PDO cheese. The beech
barrel is handcrafted in Metsovo, and is used for the ripening of
feta PDO made from Greek fresh pasteurised sheep and goat milk. The
internal surface of the beech barrel is coated with a biofilm that
contributes the transfer of aromatic compounds and defines the
organoleptic characteristics of feta PDO cheese (23). The capacity of the reusable barrel
is 60 kg. PDO, protected designation of origin.

Figure 2

General workflow feta PDO production.
Beech wooden barrels or stainless-steel tanks are used for the
repining and packaging in the dairy plant. CCPs and OPRPs are
established to manage microbiological (M), chemical (C) and
physical (P) hazards based on HACCP principles. PDO, protected
designation of origin; CCPs, Critical Control Points; OPRPs,
Operational Prerequisite Programs; T, temperature.

Figure 3

Monitoring of changes in pH during
feta PDO production matured in a beech barrel. The pH changes
during the cheese curd process of feta PDO production matured in
beech barrel exhibit an overall decline from 6.7 to 4.8, reflecting
a rapid acidification during the first day. The most notable
measurements were recorded at 10-h intervals over a period of 20 h.
PDO, protected designation of origin.

Figure 4

Monitoring of changes in pH values
during feta PDO production matured in a beech barrel. The
measurements were performed at non-consecutive ripening time
points, expressed in days: 10, 30, 40, 50 and 150, independently of
the microbiological sampling. The figure illustrates an overall
decline from 4.7 to 4.4, being stable after the 50th day. PDO,
protected designation of origin.
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Spandidos Publications style
Pagoni M, Pagoni A, Panagopoulos D, Zoumpourlis V, Michalopoulos I, Tsolakou A, Rachaniotis NP, Tsangaris GT and Drakoulis N: Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel. Int J Funct Nutr 6: 10, 2025.
APA
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A. ... Drakoulis, N. (2025). Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel. International Journal of Functional Nutrition, 6, 10. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2025.51
MLA
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A., Rachaniotis, N. P., Tsangaris, G. T., Drakoulis, N."Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 6.1 (2025): 10.
Chicago
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A., Rachaniotis, N. P., Tsangaris, G. T., Drakoulis, N."Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 6, no. 1 (2025): 10. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2025.51
Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Pagoni M, Pagoni A, Panagopoulos D, Zoumpourlis V, Michalopoulos I, Tsolakou A, Rachaniotis NP, Tsangaris GT and Drakoulis N: Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel. Int J Funct Nutr 6: 10, 2025.
APA
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A. ... Drakoulis, N. (2025). Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel. International Journal of Functional Nutrition, 6, 10. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2025.51
MLA
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A., Rachaniotis, N. P., Tsangaris, G. T., Drakoulis, N."Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 6.1 (2025): 10.
Chicago
Pagoni, M., Pagoni, A., Panagopoulos, D., Zoumpourlis, V., Michalopoulos, I., Tsolakou, A., Rachaniotis, N. P., Tsangaris, G. T., Drakoulis, N."Microbiological safety of feta PDO cheese matured in an aged beech wood barrel". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 6, no. 1 (2025): 10. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2025.51
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