Could artisan cheeses that please ease diseases?

Blessed are the tiny cheesemakers: scientists have mapped out the bacteria responsible for giving three British cheeses their distinct flavour, which may also be beneficial to human health.

Scientists in the Food Microbial Sciences Unit at the University of Reading, identified the microbial and biochemical profiles of three artisan cheeses made locally in Oxfordshire across their maturation process, and found that the bacteria responsible for a cheese’s character could also benefit the people who eat it.

The study, published in ACS Food Science & Technology, examined three cheese varieties produced by Nettlebed Creamery in Oxfordshire: a soft white-rind cheese aged for just over a week; a washed-rind semi-soft cheese that takes several weeks to reach maturity; and a semi-hard cheese aged in hay for around nine months.

Lead author Sabrina Longley, a PhD researcher in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, said: “"Good cheese is delicious, and the artisan varieties we studied are full of microbial life that could have benefits to your gut health.

"The ageing process creates more complex aromas and textures through the work of an army of helpful bacteria. The matrix of fats and proteins in the cheese may also help protect the bacteria as they travel along the digestive tract, making cheese an excellent vehicle for delivery of probiotics to the gut."

Samples were taken at different stages of cheese maturing process and analysed for their bacterial populations and chemical composition.

All three cheeses contained bacteria with recognised probiotic potential, which can add to populations of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Streptococcus thermophilus, also used as a yogurt starter, remained dominant in the semi-soft and harder cheeses right through to maturity, while Lactococcus lactis was present throughout all three cheeses. The washed-rind cheese and hay-aged cheese also contained Propionibacterium freudenreichii, which produces propionic acid, a compound associated with anti-inflammatory properties, reduction of cholesterol synthesis, and appetite regulation.

Bioactive potential

For cheese lovers who eat the rind, there may be particular reason to do so. The white mould Penicillium candidum, used to form the distinctive rind in the soft cheese studied, produces chitin, a dietary fibre that may act as a prebiotic. This is food for other beneficial gut bacteria, which can stimulate beneficial changes in the gut microbiota.

The process of ageing the harder cheese in hay, meanwhile, appeared to increase the diversity of bacterial species present in the cheese as it matured, with nearly four times as many species found in the mature cheese, compared to the same cheese earlier in the process.

The researchers found that lactose, the sugar found in cow’s milk that some people struggle to digest, was almost entirely absent from all three cheeses by the time they reached maturity, having been broken down by lactic acid bacteria during the fermentation process.

Sabrina Longley is a cheesemaker at the independent Nettlebed Creamery in Oxfordshire, which part-funded the research. She is being supported to conduct her PhD research part-time with a University of Reading regional bursary, a scheme helping people from the local area to undertake research studies.

The authors note that further research (dietary intervention trials) is needed to confirm how bacterial populations in the gut microbiota behave and change after being consumed, and their overall effects on the human system.

Notes to editors: 

Sabrina Longley is available for interview. Contact the University of Reading Press Office on 0118 378 5757 or to pressoffice@reading.ac.uk to arrange. 

A human intervention trial is currently underway exploring the potential of the hay-aged cheese to modulate the gut microbiome in a way that could reduce cholesterol; if you are interested in participating, please contact s.i.c.longley@pgr.reading.ac.uk.

Full reference:

Sabrina Longley, Glenn Gibson, and Anisha Wijeyesekera (2026), Microbial and Biochemical Characterization of Three Artisan British Cheeses throughout the Maturation Process, ACS Food Science & Technology, DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.5c01243