Characterization of the volatile organic compounds of Italian ‘Fossa’ cheese by solid‐phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Abstract

Fossa cheese is an Italian hard cheese, ripened for up to 3 months in underground pits dug into tuffaceous rock. During this period, the cheese develops a unique flavour and intense and somewhat piquant aroma. Solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) was utilized to characterize the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of Fossa cheese. A total of 75 VOCs were separated and identified; in particular, the major class of compounds found in the cheeses ripened in the pits were the esters of fatty acids. Discriminant analysis of volatile profiles allowed us to distinguish between cheeses in different stages of seasoning (60-day-old cheese and cheese ripened an additional 90 days in and out of the pits).

Recent analyses using solid phase microextraction in industries related to food made into or from liquids

“…Methyl ketones can be produced microbially in some cheeses Wolf et al, 2010). The methyl ketone 2-nonanone is a common product of both cheese and whey protein that was identified using SPME (Gioacchini et al, 2010;Jaillais, Bertrand, & Auger, 1999;Mondello et al, 2005;Quach, Chen, & Stevenson, 1998). Other SPME analyses of cheese aromas have identified 2-undecanone as contributing to cheese's floral smell (Jaillais et al, 1999;Vítová et al, 2011).…”

“…Food quality was an early focus of SPME studies as fatty acids concentrations were linked to bacteria within milk known to decrease shelf life (Marsili, 2000). Fatty acids were a large contributor to the volatile aroma of various cheese products due to a concerted enzymatic process that allowed for regional classifications of cheese (CaisSokoli nska Delgado, González-Crespo, Cava, García-Parra, & Ramírez, 2010;Gioacchini, De Santi, Guescini, Brandi, & Stocchi, 2010;Wolf, Perotti, Bernal, & Zalazar, 2010). Fatty acids with up to twelve carbon atoms were detected when HS-SPME was used to analyze volatile compounds from cheese (Bergamini, Wolf, Perotti, & Zalazar, 2010) or whey (Leksrisompong, Miracle, & Drake, 2010).…”

“…2). Ketones and aldehydes detected with SPME were generally oxidation products of fatty acids, amino acids or metabolites of bacterial processes within the foodstuff (Gioacchini et al, 2010), though they can be added during the processing of flavored foods . For ketones, the range of concentrations found was from 0.2 mg/L in tomatoes (Feudo, Macchione, Naccarato, Sindona, & Tagarelli, 2011;OrtizSerrano & Gil, 2010) to 2000 mg/L of acetoin found in Pecorino Abruzzese cheese from Italy (Serio, Chaves-López, Paparella, & Suzzi, 2010).…”

The individual contribution of starter and non-starter lactic acid bacteria to the volatile organic compound composition of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese

“…Most of these compounds tend to increase during ripening (Gioacchini et al, 2010). In particular, S. thermophilus FM854 showed the highest production of these chemicals (1.14%).…”

“…Except, benzaldehyde, 3-methyl that was the only aldehyde detected in CuBM, all other compounds within this class were produced during fermentation. Aldehydes are the main products of the autoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids (Gioacchini et al, 2010) and are responsible of herbaceous aroma (Engels et al, 1997). Generally, some aldehydes may derive from the catabolism of amino acids, such as butanal-3-methyl from leucine and butanal-2-methyl form isoleucine (Urbach, 1995).…”