Summary -Most of the classification methods so far published for chee se varieties which are based either on rheological or compositional properties appear to be inadequate. Still, a promising approach in this area of cheese research is the application to proteolytic patterns of multivariate statistics such as principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA). Both techniques were therefore performed on electrophoretic profiles obtained by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SOS-PAGE) of the pH 4.6-insoluble protein fraction of cheese. Cheese sampI es of different Belgian varieties (Passendale, Wijnendale, Nazareth and Oud Brugge) with different grades of maturity were investigated and compared to other international brands. The SOS-PAGE method was performed by means of the PhastâystemfN. The method produces volumograms which allow not only qualitative but also quantitative interpretation. Generally it can be concluded that PCA resulted in a clear separation of Nazareth and Oud Brugge and to a lesser extent of Passendale and Wijnendale; DA allowed correct classification of the four Belgian cheeses, and comparison with international brands determined known similarities between the cheeses. This tool may therefore be of use in the field of authenticity research and classification. To a lesser extent, the method can also help in determining the maturity of a ripening cheese.