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Public repositories often lack standardised descriptors that matter for cheese ecology. MetaCheeseDB provides cheese-specific metadata — not just sequencing descriptors. Indeed, for each sample we compiled 42 metadata fields, including both technical descriptors, and food- and process-related variables. We additionally provide a harmonised subset of 18 standardised metadata fields designed for robust cross-study comparisons.

Examples of curated cheese-relevant fields include:

• milk source and animal management (where available)
• thermal treatment (e.g., pasteurisation)
• starter strategy (including backslopping / natural whey culture)
• curd treatment and ripening context
• rind presence and sampled compartment (core vs rind)
• texture class (soft / semi-hard / hard / very hard)
• geographical origin and certification status (PDO/PGI where applicable)

You can find the full metadata table at this link.

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Use the browsing interface to filter samples by your interesting metadata and microbes.

Contributions

Feedback and contributions are welcome. Please use the repository issue tracker or the contact details provided on the site.