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The salt distribution process in artisanal sheep cheese with an innovative shape of eight lobes was investigated. The cheese was subjected to two brining conditions: 24 h with brine at 16°Baumé and 12 h at 22°Baumé. The chemical composition (pH, water activity, dry matter, fat, and protein content), proteolysis (nitrogen fractions and free amino acids), and lipolysis (free fatty acids) were evaluated in two sampling zones (internal and external) at 1, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 days of ripening. The whole cheese reached a homogeneous salt distribution at 180 days of ripening. Brining conditions did not have an influence on the rate of salt penetration, but on the final sodium chloride (NaCl) content. Cheese with higher salt content (3.0%) showed increased proteolysis and lipolysis as compared to cheese with lower salt content (2.2%). Proteolysis index and total free fatty acids did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between internal and external zones of cheese. It is suggested that producers start marketing this artisanal cheese at 6 months of ripening, when it has uniform composition and salt distribution.

To find an innovative use for orange peels discarded in the orange juice-making process, a fermentative process was assessed using a Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strain. Blanched or rinsed peels were submerged in a 5% NaCl-3% inoculated sucrose brine for 10 days. Total soluble solids, pH, sugars and total aerobic and anaerobic counts were determined in the brines to characterise the process. The final products were characterised by instrumental texture, colour and volatile composition. The blanching pretreatment had a significant effect on the whole process and the final product characteristics. Anaerobic bacteria total counts were significantly higher in the blanched samples during the whole fermentation, and pH decreased significantly slower in these samples than in the rinsed ones. Rinsed samples were characterised by higher aerobic total counts, higher sucrose consumption and higher glucose, fructose and polyalcohols production. The texture was softer in the pretreated samples, probably due to the blanching process rather than the fermentation. The volatile composition was quite similar between samples, although it was different from one of the raw orange peels due to a significant decrease in various volatile compounds.

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed to identify new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes associated with mastitis resistance in Assaf sheep by using the Illumina Ovine Infinium® HD SNP BeadChip (680K). In total, 6173 records from 1894 multiparous Assaf ewes with at least three test day records and aged between 2 and 7 years old were used to estimate a corrected phenotype for somatic cell score (SCS). Then, 192 ewes were selected from the top (n = 96) and bottom (n = 96) tails of the corrected SCS phenotype distribution to be used in a GWAS. Although no significant SNPs were found at the genome level, four SNPs (rs419096188, rs415580501, rs410336647, and rs424642424) were significant at the chromosome level (FDR 10%) in two different regions of OAR19. The SNP rs419096188 was located in intron 1 of the NUP210 and close to the HDAC11 genes (61 kb apart), while the other three SNPs were totally linked and located 171 kb apart from the ARPP21 gene. These three genes were related to the immune system response. These results were validated in two SNPs (rs419096188 and rs424642424) in the total population (n = 1894) by Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) genotyping. Furthermore, rs419096188 was also associated with lactose content.