Variation in the conjugated linoleic acid content of three traditional Greek cheeses during a 1-year period

Abstract

The fat and fatty acid content of three traditional Greek cheeses were determined monthly for a period of 1 year. The analyzed cheeses, feta, graviera and manouri, are traditional Greek dairy products made exclusively or primarily from sheep milk. In all cheeses, the content of the fatty acids varies during several months, especially the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of feta, graviera and manouri ranged between 0.5 and 0.9, 0.5 and 1.0 and 0.4 and 0.8 g/100 g total fatty acids, respectively. The average content of CLA in graviera and feta was similar (0.75 and 0.72 g/100 g fatty acids, respectively). On the other hand, the CLA content of manouri (0.54 g/100 g fatty acids) was less than that of the other two cheeses. In every case, the analyzed cheeses can be characterized as good or very good CLA sources. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.