Fatty acid and terpenoid profile: A signature of mountain milk

The aim of this work was to verify the suitability of terpenoids and fatty acid composition to authenticate the altitude of milk production. Milk originating from lowland (L1), mountain (M1) and alpine pasture (H1 and H2) in the Aosta Valley (Northwest Italy), during the month of June, was collected at a cheese factory. The M1, H1, and H2 milk is characterised by a high content of a-linolenic, vaccenic acid and conjugated linoleic fatty acids, compared with milk from lowland pastures. Terpenoid profiles changed with altitude of grazing. The leave-one-out cross-validation, using altitude of grazing as a grouping, and C14:0 iso, anteisoC17:0, C18:1 trans-11, C18:2 trans-9, trans-12 and cis-ocimene as discriminant vari- ables, gave a correct classification rates of 98% of milk samples to origin of production.