Paper Title
Microbial Dynamics of Caciofiore Cheese Coagulated with crude Extract from Onopordum Tauricum Willd

Abstract
In recent times there is a growing interest in vegetable coagulants for cheese-making, but only Cynara cardunculus is being effectively used due to lack of standardization of other species with milk-clotting properties. In this study, two experimental coagulants obtained from flower heads of spontaneous or cultivated OnopordumtauricumWilldwere used for the manufacture of Caciofiore cheese and compared to a commercial coagulant from Cynara cardunculus. With the aim of investigating the effect of the coagulants on the cheese microbial dynamics during ripening, a combined approach based on conventional and DNA-based (Illumina sequencing) analyses was adopted. Differences in bacterial biota and mycobiota were found depending on the coagulants, but their effect wasnegligible with respect to initial milk microflora. The similarity between experimental and control cheeses supported the potential use of the experimental coagulants. Keywords - Vegetable coagulants, Cheese-making, Ripening, Microbial dynamics, Illumina sequencing.