Shorter brine soak in Parmigiano Reggiano and nutrient release
What it found
In lab digestion tests, Parmigiano Reggiano made with a shorter brine soak released similar amounts of fatty acids and protein as the standard cheese, but more of some bioactive peptides.
The cheese was not eaten by people.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Fat release over time
Fatty acids were released from the cheese over the course of digestion. At the end of digestion, the amounts released were similar in the standard and low-salt cheeses. In the middle of the intestinal phase, the low-salt cheese had released more myristic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and total fats.
Protein release
Protein and peptide release increased with digestion time and reached its maximum in the middle of the intestinal phase. The standard and low-salt cheeses showed no differences at any digestion time.
Peptide formation
Digestion raised the number of peptides from fewer than 80 in undigested cheese to more than 100 at the middle and end of the intestinal phase. Most came from beta-casein and alpha-s1-casein. The total number was similar in both cheeses.
Bioactive peptides
Seven bioactive peptides were found in undigested cheese, with similar amounts in both. After digestion, 15 bioactive peptides were detected in both cheeses. Four of these were more abundant in the low-salt cheese, and most of the bioactive peptides at the end of digestion were ACE-inhibitors.
Other findings
Salt content
The standard cheese contained 2.32% salt on a dry matter basis, and the low-salt cheese contained 1.90%, a reduction of about 20%.
What the authors conclude
“Considering that the sensory profiles were already evaluated as remarkably similar in conventional and hyposodic PRC, our results confirmed that shortening brine soaking time represents a promising strategy to reduce salt content in PRC.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that reducing salt in ripened Parmigiano Reggiano did not significantly affect fatty acid and protein bioaccessibility and led to the formation of a higher number of bioactive peptides after gastrointestinal digestion.
- They say that shortening brine soaking time is a promising strategy to reduce salt content in Parmigiano Reggiano, potentially protecting consumers' health.
- They call for further studies to evaluate the actual ACE-inhibitory activity of the digested cheeses in biological systems.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see if cutting salt in Parmigiano Reggiano by soaking it in brine for less time changes how well fats and proteins are released during digestion, or how many bioactive peptides form.
They made Parmigiano Reggiano with a normal 18-day brine soak and with a shorter 12-day soak, then ripened both for 30 months. They put samples through a simulated digestion in the lab and measured fatty acids, proteins and peptides at several points.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a lab digestion test, not a study in people, so it cannot show what happens when someone eats the cheese.
- The test measured how much of certain compounds were released during digestion, not whether they would have any effect on blood pressure or health.
- The authors note that further studies are needed to clarify how salt concentration affects the formation of bioactive peptides.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Innovative Milk and Meat products for Consumer's Health - MiMe4Health (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Milan, Italy; University of Parma, Italy; University of Bologna, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Impact of a Shorter Brine Soaking Time on Nutrient Bioaccessibility and Peptide Formation in 30-Months-Ripened Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Di Nunzio M, Loffi C, Chiarello E, et al (2022). Impact of a Shorter Brine Soaking Time on Nutrient Bioaccessibility and Peptide Formation in 30-Months-Ripened Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/molecules27030664Free full textPubMed 35163932DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error