Cheddar cheese can be pre-determined by Gilles and Lawrence’s model linking cheese composition (e.g, moisture, fat, pH) with its grade quality for young cheese after 14 days of manufacturing. During cheese ripening, it is known that biochemical changes of fat, protein, and carbohydrates can lead to significant changes in volatile compounds. Some extreme higher or lower amounts of flavour compounds can cause an imbalanced flavour profile during ripening, which then affects the quality of the end products. This study monitored the evolution of volatile compounds from six different predetermined qualities of cheese during ripening by collecting samples at six stages of ripening (56, 90, 180, 270, 360, 450 days). Solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME GC-MS) was used to characterise key aroma compounds among products at different ripening stages, and descriptive sensory analysis with trained panellists was also conducted on the same cheese samples. Premium Cheddar cheese was found with the highest acetoin level at 56 days than other graded ones, and its level generally decreased to &lt; 20% at 180 days for all samples. Correlation with sensory results indicated that acetoin was highly correlated with a buttery flavour and diary odour (Pearson correlation coefficient r= 0.78 and 0.74 respectively). The level of acetic acid generally increased to its maximum at 270 days, and its level was positively correlated with sour and tangy attributes (r = 0.65 and 0.62 respectively). Other organic acids (e.g., propanoic acid, butyric acid, octanoic acid, valeric acid and caproic acid) showed a steady increase during cheese ripening till 450 days, and their levels were highly correlated with the overall flavour intensity (r =0.74 ~0.88). However, the concentration of acetic acid and organic acids showed no significant difference (p&gt; 0.05) between premium and other graded cheese, particularly at the early stage of ripening (56 and 90 days). Therefore, acetoin, which showed a 30-60% higher level in premium cheese than other graded ones at 56 days, could be the best marker compound to predict the quality of Cheddar cheese.

Evolution of volatile compounds during cheddar cheese ripening and discovery of the key flavour compounds related to predetermined cheese qualities

ACS Spring 2022

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