Three distant cheese studios in Europe, where mites are traditionally used for cheese ripening, found that the mites are the same species of cheese mites, not yeast with a storehouse

～The "lemon aroma" ex-secreted by the mites did not contribute directly to the flavor of the cheese.

Key points of the presentation
(1) For centuries, cheeses in Europe have been traditionally aged with mites. These mites are mites, and in France, cheese mites have often appeared in literature since the 18th century as a representative of small mites. Prof. Shimano and his research team at Hosei University conducted a study in the aging rooms of three cheese studios, Milbenkäse (Milben = mite, Käse = cheese, mite cheese) in Germany, Mimolette and Artisou in France, and in the Mites were collected directly from Mimolette and Laguiole, respectively, with a good history, bought in cheese stores in Paris and Japan, and examined by morphological and genetic analysis. Oudemans,1910). The scientific name casei means cheese.
(2) Are the cheesemite mites in the cheese workshop endemic to the region from generation to generation, or are they "storehouse mites" as opposed to "storehouse yeast"? To answer the question, we analyzed the genetic structure of cheese konadani mites between each cheese ripening warehouse using a massively parallel DNA sequencer. The results showed no geographical separation between the cheese producing regions, despite the fact that they are more than 500 km apart from each other.
(3) Cheeses that use mites for ripening are said to have a unique flavor. We detected neral, a component of "lemon flavor" from cheese mites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This substance may be secreted by the mites as a pheromone and anti-fungal effect. On the other hand, no nerale derived from mites was detected in the artizou (cheese) itself, one of the three cheeses in the ripening room visited. Thus, it appears that mites do not contribute directly to the flavoring of the cheeses. However, Milbenkäse and Artizou are eaten together with the tick-attached exterior, which also gives them a unique flavor (mimolette does not eat the exterior).

In Europe, some cheeses have been traditionally aged with ticks for centuries. These mites, which are mites, are representative of small ones and have appeared frequently in French literature since the mid-18th century, including Pascal's "Pensées" and La Fontaine's "Fables," a collection of Aesop's fables and other stories.

A research group led by Professor Tomoyuki Shimano of Hosei University's Natural Science Center and Faculty of Intercultural Communication Studies, Professor Nobuyasu Shimizu of Kyoto University of Advanced Sciences' Faculty of Bio-Environmental Studies, and Associate Professor Shinpei Hiruta of Showa University's Fuji Foothills Institute for Nature and Biology has been studying Milbenkäse (Milben = mite, Milben = tick, Milben = mite) in Würchwitz, a suburb of Leipzig, Germany, Milbenkäse (Milben = mite, Käse = cheese, mite cheese), Mimolette in France on the border with Belgium in Flanders, and Artisou in Auvergne in the central highlands of France, as well as cheese from three cheese studios in Paris and Japan. Mites were collected directly from Mimolette and Laguiole in the Auvergne, and from Mimolette and Artisou in the Auvergne in the central highlands of France, and from Mimolette and Laguiole in Paris and Japan, respectively. All five cheeses from three distant cheese-producing regions that traditionally use ticks for aging were found to have the same species of cheese mite, Tyrolichus casei (Oudemans, 1910). The scientific name casei means "cheese. The cheese mites purchased at a cheese shop in a Parisian market (marché) were another species, such as the asybuthus casei. Even in France, it is common for aged cheeses to unintentionally have ticks on them, but they are often asiatic mites or other mites.

The only species used in cheese ripening in the three far-flung traditional cheese-producing regions would be the Cheeseconada mite, but of course humans did not intentionally select this species for use in ripening. For some reason, the mites used in the ripening of traditional cheeses in all of the cheese factories ended up being this species, Cheese Konadani. The reason for this is not well understood. It may be that traditional cheese mills that have been using mites carefully and carefully for hundreds of years have been replaced by the Cheesecup mite. On the other hand, a cheese workshop with cheese mites may be just as carefully managed as a cheese workshop with a centuries-old tradition of ripening with mites.

The term "terroir" has become popular in recent years, originally derived from the French word "terre" meaning "land," and refers to the soil, climate, climate, human factors, and other natural environmental factors unique to the land in which the grapes are grown that are related to the flavor of the wine. It means the natural environmental factors that are unique to a region, such as soil, climate, climate, and human factors. Some people believe that sake has its own unique flavor due to the yeast that lives in the brewery, known as "kura-tsukura-yoke.

We learned that the only mites used in the cheese factory, which has traditionally used mites for centuries in the ripening process, were a species of cheese mite called cheese mite. However, the question remained, "Are these mites strictly speaking, mites that have been growing in the same region for generations? In other words, we wanted to know if there were mite strains unique to each region, or to each cellar, that contributed to the flavor of each cheese.

Cheese mites from five cheeses from three regions were analyzed using a massively parallel DNA sequencer and the MIG-seq method to analyze the genetic structure of the mites among the different cheese ripening units. The results showed that despite the distance between Germany (Würchwitz), northern France (Flanders), and south-central France (Auvergne), which are more than 500 km apart, no geographical differences were found in the genetic structure of the mites. Normally, geographical differences in the genetic structure of ticks would be expected, but at present no clear explanation can be given as to why this is not the case. For example, we know that in ancient Roman times, Celtic-bred aged cheese was widely exported to Europe, so cheese mites spread throughout Europe along with cheese in the absence of refrigerators. Then, due to time and management practices, many of them may have disappeared, surviving only in the cheese workshops where the mites prefer to live. Or, as many of these mites can be found in old hives of honeybees, we wonder if the bees are causing a genetic shuffling of the mites.

Cheeses that use mites for ripening are said to have a unique flavor. We detected neral, one of the components of "lemon flavor" from cheese mites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This substance may be secreted by the mites as a pheromone and anti-fungal effect.

We also examined one of the three cheeses, Artizou itself, to see if this nerale could be detected, but it was not. Thus, it appears that the mites do not contribute any direct flavoring to the cheese. However, Milbenkäse and Artizou also have a unique flavor because they eat the outside with the ticks attached (Mimolette does not eat the outside). In the case of mimolette, a cheese that is spherical in shape and the entire cheese is about the size of a basketball, the mites eat the outer rind of the cheese, creating holes and increasing the surface area, which is said to be important in the aging process to allow more gas exchange with the interior of the cheese.

In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) once withheld 1.5 tons of French cheese Mimolette from customs because of the presence of live mites. However, the injunction was soon lifted as there was no problem.

Cheese mites are a phylogenetically very distant taxon from the dust mites (leopard mites) that cause mite allergies. Although strong allergic individuals should be aware of this, no cases of anaphylactic shock have been found in France in cheeses aged with mites. There are no legal restrictions on the production of cheeses with mites in France (see https://www.legifrance .gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000644875/2022-04-29/ Article 10).

There have also been cases of anaflaxis shock caused by pancake syndrome, which is caused by okonomiyaki made with flour that is heavily infested with mites, and it is known that the food that caused the anaflaxis shock contained an order of magnitude more mites than the mites in the cheese. The mites in the cheese are not comparable to the mites in the cheese. Rather, it is necessary to take care to store foods that are prone to mite proliferation, such as okonomiyaki flour with broth, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and to avoid eating foods past their expiration date.

When I visit a cheese factory that makes artisseuse in the Auvergne region of the central highlands of France, they tell me, "We don't add anything to our cheese; we value the milk in its natural state and the aging of the cheese. To taste cheese is to taste the tradition of cheese and the nature itself where the cheese was born and raised.

The above research was mainly conducted by a joint research team consisting of Professor Tomoyuki Shimano (Hosei University, Center for Natural Science and Technology, Faculty of Intercultural Communication ), Professor Nobuyasu Shimizu (Kyoto University of Advanced Sciences, Faculty of Bio-Environment), and Associate Professor Shinpei Hiruta (Showa University, Fuji Foothills Institute for Nature and Biology).

(1) Journal: Experimental and Applied Acarology, published on Monday, July 11, 2022
Title of paper: Do 'cheese factory-specific' mites (Acari: Astigmata) exist in the cheese-ripening cabinet?
Authors: Satoshi Shimano, Shimpei F. Hiruta, Nobuhiro Shimizu, Wataru Hagino, Jun-ichi Aoki, Barry M. OConnor
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-022-00725-8

(2) Journal: Experimental and Applied Acarology, August 2022, forthcoming
Title of paper: Mite secretions from three traditional mite-ripened cheese types: are ripened French cheeses flavored by the mites (Acari: Astigmata)? Astigmata)?
Authors: Nobuhiro Shimizu, Barry M. OConnor, Shimpei F. Hiruta, Wataru Hagino, Satoshi Shimano
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-022-00734-7 (tentative)

Inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to
　Professor Tomoyuki Shimano, Hosei University, Center for Natural Sciences and Faculty of Intercultural Communication Studies
　　E-Mail: sim@hosei.ac.jp