Sensory Profiles of Very Hard Italian Cheeses and Related Varieties

Very hard Italian cheeses represent an important part of the Italian dairy production, derived mainly from bovine, ovine and caprine milk. In most cases, the production of such cheeses is linked to ancient pastoral traditions, which have later evolved into processing protocols also associated with the European quality marks PDO and PGI. The present chapter discusses the sensory profile with a focus on descriptive analysis and on the molecular profile of the Grana-type, the Pecorino-type, Asiago and Montasio cheeses. For Grana-type, Asiago and Montasio cheeses, both the evaluation procedures and sensory terminology have been set up as well as a quality grading system for cheese commercialisation whereas very hard cheeses made from the milk of minor species are still lacking of proper procedures. Correlation between sensory evaluation and volatile compounds and chemical analysis is also presented.