Parmigiano Reggiano is a highly appreciated hard cheese manufactured from raw cow's milk in a limited area in the north Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia. It is traditionally shaved or grated over dishes to impart flavor, particularly to pasta. Parmigiano Reggiano flavor combines a savory taste with a characteristic and complex aroma including cheesy, fruity, pungent, and caramel-like notes. In order to elucidate the compounds responsible for these olfactory properties, aroma extract dilution analysis was applied to screen the volatiles isolated from Parmigiano Reggiano for odor-active compounds. Results showed 56 odorants in the FD factor range of 2 to 8192. Twenty-seven compounds exhibiting high FD factors were subsequently quantified using stable isotope dilution assays and odor activity values (OAVs) were calculated as ratio of the concentrations and the odor thresholds of the individual compounds. Based on high OAVs, the pungent smelling compounds acetaldehyde and acetic acid, the cheesy smelling compounds butanoic, 3-methylbutanoic, propanoic, hexanoic, and pentanoic acid, cabbage-like smelling methanethiol, potato-like smelling 3-(methylthio)-propanal, caramel-like smelling compounds 2(5)-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5(2)-methylfuran-3(2H)-one and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethylfuran-3(2H)-one, as well as malty 3-methylbutanal and flowery phenylacetaldehyde were the most potent odorants in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Key aroma compounds in genuine parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)

246th National Meeting (2013)

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