## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbiological Analysis
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Microbial Groups** & **CTR** & **ECO** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline _Enterococcus_ spp. & 5.04 \(\pm\) 0.19 & 5.15 \(\pm\) 0.15 & 0.65 \\ _Enterobacteriaceae_ & 2.54 \(\pm\) 0.34 & 2.72 \(\pm\) 0.17 & 0.33 \\ Coagulase+ staphylococci & 4.48 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 5.29 \(\pm\) 0.30 & 0.13 \\ Total mesophilic bacteria & 6.38 \(\pm\) 0.11 & 6.23 \(\pm\) 0.11 & 0.62 \\ Yeasts and molds & 6.57 \(\pm\) 0.26 & 6.42 \(\pm\) 0.17 & 0.84 \\ _Lactococcus_ spp. & 6.91 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 6.68 \(\pm\) 1.42 & 0.35 \\ _Thermophilic lactococci_ & 2.77 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 5.29 \(\pm\) 0.75 & 0.01 \\ _Lactic acid bacteria_ & 7.34 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 7.03 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.41 \\ _E. coli_ & Absent & Absent & — \\ _Salmonella_ spp. & Absent & Absent & — \\ _L. monocytogenes_ & Absent & Absent & — \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Microbial counts (expressed as mean log10 cfu/g \(\pm\) standard deviation) of cheese samples. CTR group: cheese made by dairy cows fed concentrate without olive cake supplements. ECO group: cheese made by dairy cows fed concentrate with 7% enriched olive cake as 7% of a DM. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Microbial Groups** & **CTR** & **ECO** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline _Enterococcus_ spp. & 3.04 \(\pm\) 0.13 & 3.15 \(\pm\) 0.15 & 0.34 \\ _Enterobacteriaceae_ & 2.70 \(\pm\) 0.35 & 2.43 \(\pm\) 0.23 & 0.24 \\ _S. aureus_ & 0.93 \(\pm\) 1.60 & 0.95 \(\pm\) 0.16.64 & 0.11 \\ Total mesophilic bacteria & 4.54 \(\pm\) 0.25 & 4.42 \(\pm\) 0.26 & 0.13 \\ Yeasts and molds & 2.57 \(\pm\) 0.20 & 2.42 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 0.84 \\ _Lactococcus_ spp. & 3.11 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 3.20 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.41 \\ _Thermophilic lactococci_ & 3.77 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 5.09 \(\pm\) 0.75 & 0.01 \\ _Lactic acid bacteria_ & 4.55 \(\pm\) 0.18 & 4.45 \(\pm\) 0.08 & 0.41 \\ _E. coli_ & 1.47 \(\pm\) 1.29 & 0.67 \(\pm\) 1.15 & 0.01 \\ Total coliforms & 1.80 \(\pm\) 1.56 & 1.33 \(\pm\) 1.15 & 0.41 \\ _Salmonella_ spp. & Absent & Absent & — \\ _L. monocytogenes_ & Absent & Absent & — \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Microbial counts (expressed as mean log10 cfu/mL \(\pm\) standard deviation) of milk samples. CTR group: milk from dairy cows fed concentrate without olive cake supplements. ECO group: milk from dairy cows fed concentrate with 7% enriched olive cake as 7% of a DM. LAB count ranged from 7.34 to 7.03 log cfu/g in the CTR sample and the ECO cheese, respectively. Notably, the pro-technological groups, including LAB and both mesophilic and thermophilic cocci, dominated the microbial community, which, together with enterococci, were not affected by the thermal treatment applied during stretching, whose consistent increase could be due to later milk contact with the wooden vat [52]. It is well known that these bacteria play a crucial role during cheese fermentation, mainly in the development of sensorial characteristics and, generally, in the consistent contribution to the typicality of traditional cheeses [53]. Although the stretching operation, typical of Caciocavallo Raguusano cheese making, is known to exert a sanitizing effect [54], the thermal shock applied with stretching did not determine the reduction in the presumptive coagulase-negative staphylococci group in chees, where their levels were quite consistent (4.48 in the CTR and 5.29 log cfu/g in the ECO samples). Concerning the enterococci group, the value reached was about 5.00 log cfu/g for both samples, while the Enterobacteriaceae count was between 2.54 and 2.27 log cfu/g in the CTR and ECO cheese, respectively. Finally, no marked differences were observed between the cheeses for both total mesophilic bacteria and eumycetic population, which, compared to milk, increased in the same way.