TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Terroir in acarology: are cheese mites indigenous to their producer’s ripening cabinet, and does the 500-year tradition of mite-ripening truly yield a distinctive aroma?
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 51
EP  - 51
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Satoshi, Shimano
AU  - Shimpei F., Hiruta
AU  - Jun-ichi the late, Aoki
AU  - Wataru, Hagino
AU  - Barry M., Oconnor
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/s6h4-ofmv
DO  - 10.24349/s6h4-ofmv
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Astigmata
KW  - Mite ripened cheese
KW  - Tyrolichus casei
KW  - MIG-seq
KW  - GC–MS
AB  - The concept of terroir, as used by winemakers, refers to the idea that distinctive flavors emerge from the unique natural endowments of a place — its soil, water, and “house” yeasts. Do cheese factories harbor their own ‘house mites’ (Acaridae)* — or are these tiny architects of flavor simply ubiquitous ‘passersby’? This question drives our investigation of traditional mite-ripened cheeses spanning >500 years. We tested (i) whether producers separated by >500 km maintain house mite lineages, and (ii) whether mite secretions with a lemon-like odor (attributable to citral) contribute to cheese aroma, by characterizing mite assemblages from producer and retail cheeses and chemically evaluating mite secretion transfer to cheese volatiles. * Distinct from house dust mites (Pyroglyphidae). Mites were collected from three traditional producers — Würchwitzer Milbenkäse (near Leipzig, Germany), Mimolette (known historically as commissiekaas; near the Belgian border, France), and Artisou (French Massif Central, France) — and from retail cheeses obtained via specialty shops and open markets (including Laguiole, Salers, and Cantal vieux). Species were identified by morphology and D3 region sequencing of 28S rRNA gene; population structure of Tyrolichus casei was assessed with MIG-seq (ISSR-based genome-wide SNPs). Mite secretions were profiled by GC–MS of hexane extracts and compared across cheeses; transfer to cheese was tested by headspace volatile analysis of cheeses (Artisou and Cantal vieux) after mites were removed. Across producers and specialty-shop products, T. casei dominated the mite fauna and shared identical 28S D3- region haplotypes. Market Cantal vieux was dominated by Acarus siro (sharing the partial 28S haplotype wit A. immobilis in the sequenced region), and market Salers carried an Acotyledon lineage matching Acotyledon paradoxa based on partial 28S sequences (identified from immatures). Genome-wide SNPs from 19 individuals of T. casei spanning five localities across three regions (separated by >500 km) revealed no detectable geographic or producer-specific structure, indicating a genetically nearly identical background rather than ripening cabinet- specific strains. Chemical profiles of T. casei extracts were highly consistent among cheese types and featured monoterpenes including neral (a citral component), whereas A. siro extracts were characterized by 2-hydroxy-6- methylbenzaldehyde and related compounds. Although neral can explain the characteristic lemon-like note of mite-ripened cheeses, it was not detected in cheese headspace after mites were removed, implying that mite secretions are not substantially incorporated into the cheese interior during ripening; instead, the aroma is most likely experienced when consumers eat the mite-containing rind.
ER -