Evolution of volatile compounds from milk to curd during manufacturing of Mozzarella

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the evolution of the volatile compounds (VOC) from milk to curd during mozzarella manufacturing, in connection with the technique used for curd acidification (traditional = natural whey starter fermentation; industrial = direct acidification by citric acid addition). Overall, 40 compounds were identified from the entire set of samples, belonging to different chemical classes. All compounds detected in milk were also found in the curd, but at much higher concentration. In addition, many other compounds formed during curd production. By comparison of the samples from the 2 acidification techniques, and analysing the scientific literature to explain the source of the volatile compounds, it was found that microbial activity played a main role in VOC formation. In fact, the curd obtained by natural whey starter fermentation showed the most complex profile, whereas that of the curd obtained by direct acidification was much simpler. The most important odour-active compounds that could contribute to flavour of the curd made by traditional technology were 3-methylbutanal, ethyl acetate and 2,3-butanedione, responsible for ethereal, fruity and buttery odour. For direct acidification they were 3-methylbutanal (at lower level), nonanal and decanal (herbal/fruity odour). The PCA analysis showed clear clusterization of the three types of samples: milks and direct acidified curds were rather close in the bi-plot graph, whereas traditional curds were spread all along the space. The research is currently in progress, for assessing the evolution of the volatile compounds during the next technological steps of mozzarella manufacturing.

Evolution of VOC and Sensory Characteristics of Stracciatella Cheese as Affected by Different Preservatives

“…3-methylbutanal in cheese often arise from the conversion of the corresponding amino acid (isoleucine) by the LAB activity [ 46 ], and its concentration suggests a more marked microbial activity with respect to the samples without sorbic acid. This hypothesis was supported by the huge increase of ketones in Ctr and Ex, mainly connected to the formation of acetoin (1839.57 and 1512.48 μg kg −1 respectively, versus 7.8 and 7.4 μg kg −1 in So and Ex-So) that commonly derives from LAB and yeasts metabolism [ 47 ]. Ethyl acetate and ethyl butanoate increased much more in Ex, in connection with a higher presence of ethanol, which represents the limiting factor for their formation [ 48 ].…”

Volatile profile, textural and sensory properties of Diyarbakır Örgü cheese produced from sheep and cow milk of different ripening time

“…The VOC detected in the DOC samples was found to be qualitatively and quantitatively lower than those reported in other pasta-filata cheeses (Verzera et al, 2010;Sulejmani and Hayaloglu, 2016;Natrella et al, 2020;Sabia et al, 2020). This could be mainly due to a low level of lipolysis and proteolysis in DOC during the…”

Spreadable plant‐based cheese analogue with dry‐fractioned pea protein and inulin–olive oil emulsion‐filled gel

“…However, we also found many other VOC which could have contributed to the final aroma of the product. Among these, PCA‐HGR had the highest abundance of 2,3‐dimethylpentanal, hexanal, 2‐pentenal, 2‐heptenal, octanal, 1‐octen‐3‐ol, 2‐ethyl‐1‐hexanol, benzyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, 6 methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one and acetic acid, which could confer green, fatty, fruity, pungent and earthy notes, and PCA‐HGO had the highest abundance of 2‐octenal, 2‐nonenal, 3‐hexen‐1‐ol, 1‐heptanol and α‐phellandrene, which could confer fatty, green, herbal, terpenic and woody odor notes 60,61 . Finally, PCA‐HG had the highest abundance of decanal, ethanol, 1‐penten‐3‐ol, maltol, dimethyl disulfide and γ‐caprolactone, giving theoretically pleasant odors of floral, fatty, citrus, alcoholic and grass, and the unpleasant odors of rancid and sulfur 62 …”

“…Among these, PCA-HGR had the highest abundance of 2,3-dimethylpentanal, hexanal, 2-pentenal, 2-heptenal, octanal, 1-octen-3-ol, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, benzyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, 6 methyl-5-hepten-2-one and acetic acid, which could confer green, fatty, fruity, pungent and earthy notes, and PCA-HGO had the highest abundance of 2-octenal, 2-nonenal, 3-hexen-1-ol, 1-heptanol and ⊍-phellandrene, which could confer fatty, green, herbal, terpenic and woody odor notes. 60,61 Finally, PCA-HG had the highest abundance of decanal, ethanol, 1-penten-3-ol, maltol, dimethyl disulfide and γ-caprolactone, giving theoretically pleasant odors of floral, fatty, citrus, alcoholic and grass, and the unpleasant odors of rancid and sulfur. 62 The sensory evaluation results confirmed that the unpleasant flavor (legumes or beany flavor) was masked by the addition of spices as the mean score of spices was 'mild', while the mean scores of the legumes was 'low' and sourness and astringent were absent in the samples.…”