A high-quality aged cheddar is a fundamental component of any impressive cheese selection.
But while most types are aged for approximately 12 months, this falls short compared to the world’s oldest cheese, which dates back 3,600 years.
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Scientists have extracted DNA from the cheese to identify its primary components.
Their analysis indicates that the ancient cheese was produced from kefir, a fashionably popular fermented milk beverage that is highly beneficial for gut health.
Approximately twenty years ago, a group of archaeologists uncovered enigmatic white substances applied to the heads and necks of numerous mummies found in the Xiaohe cemetery located in the Tarim Basin of Northwestern China.
These mummies date back approximately 3,300 to 3,600 years to the Bronze Age timeframe.
At the time, researchers believed that these substances could be a type of fermented dairy product, but they were unable to determine the exact nature.
Researchers have now unraveled the mystery using sophisticated DNA analysis methods.
They confirmed the presence of cattle and goat DNA in the cheese samples, and established that the white substances are actually kefir cheese.
Samples from three unique tombs contained species of bacteria and fungi, such as Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Pichia kudriavzevii – both commonly found in contemporary kefir grains.
Kefir grains are collections of microorganisms consisting of various probiotic bacteria and yeast species, which ferment milk to create kefir cheese.
Aside from increasing ‘good’ bacteria in the intestines, kefir is believed to be beneficial for bone health, reducing blood sugar levels, and enhancing heart health.
‘This is the oldest known cheese sample to have ever been discovered globally,’ Professor Qiaomei Fu, head of the ancient DNA lab at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, declared.
‘Food items like cheese have proven to be extremely challenging to preserve for extended periods of thousands of years, thereby making this discovery an incredibly rare and highly valuable find.
‘Examining ancient cheeses with a great deal of attention to detail will provide valuable insights into the eating habits and customs of our forebears.’
The ability to sequence the bacterial genes in ancient kefir cheese enabled the team to follow the evolution of probiotic bacteria over the past 3,600 years.
Their discoveries contradict the conventional notion that kefir originated solely in the North Caucasus mountain region of Russia.
Instead, they propose that kefir culture has been preserved in Northwestern China’s Xinjiang region since the Bronze Age.
Research has also uncovered that, in comparison to ancient kefir bacteria, contemporary varieties produce fewer instances where the intestinal immune system in humans responds, thereby facilitating digestion.
“This is the first time we have been able to observe how a bacterium has evolved over the past 3,000 years,” Professor Fu noted.
‘Our examination of dairy products has provided new insights into ancient human life and their relationships with their environment.’
Today, kefir products encompass beverages, yogurt variants, and frozen treats such as ice cream.
The results were published in the journal Cell
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