## 3 Results
### Fatty Acid Composition  
Table 4; Table 5 show the FA composition in mg/g DM and in relative percentages, respectively. Saturated FAs were predominant, constituting 73.3% of FAs in milk, 74.9% in RC, and 71.1% in FC (Table 5). Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated FAs reached a value of 20.9 and 5.8% for milk, 19.2 and 5.9% for RC, and 22.2 and 6.7% for FC, respectively. The major FAs were C16:0, C18:1 n-9 cis, C18:0, and C14:0 (with percentages higher than \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Item**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Milk (\(n=8\))**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Fresh Cheese (\(n=8\))**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Ripened Cheese (\(n=8\))**} \\  & **Mean** & **SEM** & **Mean** & **SEM** & **Mean** & **SEM** \\ \hline Dry matter (DM) (\%) & 19.5 & 0.39 & 47.5 & 1.3 & 64.2 & 0.78 \\ Lactose (\%) & 4.54 & 0.06 & & & & \\ Fat (\%) & 7.47 & 0.31 & 24.1 & 1.2 & 29.6 & 2.4 \\ Protein (\%) & 6.57 & 0.18 & 14.6 & 0.34 & 25.6 & 0.33 \\ Fat/DM (\%) & & & 50.7 & 1.5 & 46.2 & 4.7 \\ Ash (\%) & & & 1.76 & 0.03 & 3.58 & 0.08 \\ NaCl (\%) & & & 1.16 & 0.09 & 1.04 & 0.07 \\ pH & & 6.54 & 0.03 & 5.27 & 0.03 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Physicochemical composition of fresh and ripened Roja Mallorquina ewes’ cheese and corresponding original milk. 9.5% of total FAs). The FA composition was affected by cheese manufacturing, especially in the case of milk compared with FC and in the case of FC compared with RC. In terms of amount, FC showed higher content in the large majority of both individual FAs and FA groups compared with the original milk (Table 4). Regarding the health indices, a higher polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA)/SFA ratio was observed in FC (\(p<0.05\), Table 4). In terms of relative percentages, the differences were observed especially in the groups of the FAs, although the individual FA C12:0 and C18:1 n-9 cis also presented significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) (Table 5). FC had a lower percentage of SFA (\(p<0.05\)); higher percentages of monounsaturated FAs (MUFA), PUFA, and n6 (\(p<0.05\)); and a tendency toward a higher percentage of n-3 (\(p<0.10\)) compared to milk (Table 5). RC had far fewer differences in FA composition compared to the original milk than FC. In terms of amount, the RC showed a higher content of total (\(p<0.05\)) and individual (\(p<0.01\)) short-chain FA (SCFA), C12:0 (\(p<0.05\)), and CLA _cis-9_, _trans_-11 isomer (\(p<0.05\)) (Table 4). Regarding the health indices, a higher atherogenic index (AI) and a lower MUFA/SFA ratio and health-promoting index (HPI) were observed in RC (\(p<0.05\), Table 4). Similarly, the percentages of FAs were affected by the product (Table 5); the RC showed higher values of individual SCFA (\(p<0.01\)), C12:0 (\(p<0.01\)), C14:0 (\(p<0.01\)), and CLA _cis-9_, _trans_-11 isomer (\(p<0.05\)) but significantly lower percentages of C18:0 (\(p<0.001\)) and total n-3. Comparing both types of cheese, the FC showed higher content in most FAs than the RC with the exception of short and medium-chain C4-C14 FAs and some other minority FAs that were not affected by the product (Table 4). Regarding the health indices, higher MUFA/SFA, PUFA/SFA, and HPI (\(p<0.001\)) and a lower AI (\(p<0.001\)) and thrombogenic index (TI, \(p<0.01\)) were observed in FC. Similarly, except for C16:0 and CLA _cis-9_, _trans_-11 isomer, the FA percentages were affected by the product (Table 5). FC had lower percentages of total SCFA (\(p<0.01\)), C12:0 (\(p<0.001\)), C14:0 (\(p<0.001\)) and total SFA (\(p<0.001\)) and higher percentages for the rest of the individual FAs and FA groups. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Milk (M, \(n\) = 8)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Fresh Cheese (FC, \(n\) = 8)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Ripened Cheese (RC, \(n\) = 8)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**P 2**} \\
**Item 1** & **Mean** & **SEM** & **Mean** & **SEM** & **Mean** & **SEM** & **M vs. FC** & **M vs. RC** & **FC vs. RC** \\ \hline C4\(\cdot\)0 & 3.46 & 0.43 & 5.57 & 0.35 & 5.36 & 0.44 & * & **ns** \\ C6\