Aroma Profiling of Cheese by Thermal Extraction

Keywords food quality aroma profiling off-odours cheese thermal extraction dynamic headspace TOP MS 

The aroma impression is important for consumers in spontaneous grocery food checking. Aroma profiling on a professional aspect is a key component in the industrial control amongst others of constant quality, shelf life, composition or maturity. In case of cheese a complex blend of low and high level compounds combine to create their distinctive odours, the subject of further analytical investigation. 

The nature of cheese varies considerably, and the subtle differences in aroma, flavour and texture all add to its appeal. Various factors are involved in the nature of the final product, including the type of animal, its diet, processing of the milk, the cheese culture, and the ageing conditions. Manufacturers spend a great deal of effort in ensuring the products are of a consistently high quality. 

Extraction of the diversity of aroma components from cheese at the typical temperature of consumption, trapping on sorbent tubes followed by thermal desorption to a GC-MS system allows the evaluation of the aroma profile and the identification and quantitation of individual compounds. 

The cheese samples were cut and placed in equal amounts into inert-coated heated extraction chambers for release and trapping of the volatile compounds. Nitrogen as an inert gas is passed through the chambers at a constant flow rate while sweeping the headspace vapours onto individual sorbent packed tubes. The used micro-chamber thermal extractor allows up to six samples to be extracted in parallel under identical conditions for comparable results. 

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Section 4.19 Aroma Profiling of Cheese by Thermal Extraction... 

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