Relationships between ruminant management and sensory characteristics of cheeses: a review

Abstract

-This review summarises the last 10 years' knowledge established on the relationships between the management of animals (genetics, physiology and feeding) and the sensory quality of cheese. In the production of full-fat raw milk cheese, the cow's breed can modify the texture of cheeses because of differences in fat in dry matter content due to variations in the fat/protein ratio in milk. Within the same breed, large differences in texture and taste were observed between cheeses issued from milk differing by the genetic variant of β-casein (in dairy cows) or α s1 -casein (in goats). Except in very early or late lactation, the physiological stage had no significant effect on cheese sensory characteristics. In contrast, mastitis has a well-known negative impact on cheese sensory properties. Feeding dairy cows or goats with corn silage by comparison with hay or grass silage leads to whiter cheeses and sometimes to differences in flavour. Conserving grass as silage, by comparison with hay, has no important effect on cheese sensory characteristics, except on colour, which is yellower with grass silage. Conversely, major differences in sensory characteristics were observed between cheeses made with milk produced by cows fed winter diets (based on hay and grass silage) or turned to pasture in the spring. Several recent experiments showed a significant effect of grass' botanical composition on cheese texture and flavour. Those effects are due to the presence in milk of specific molecules or structures directly induced by feeding (carotenes and terpenes) or produced by the animals (plasmin, fatty acids and casein micellar structures) according to their genetic or physiological characteristics or under the effect of specific diets. Milk / cheese / sensory characteristic / feeding / genetic characteristicRésumé -Effets des facteurs de production sur les caractéristiques sensorielles des fromages : une revue. Cette revue fait le point sur les connaissances acquises au cours des 10 dernières années sur les relations entre les facteurs de conduite des animaux (génétiques, physiologiques et alimentaires) et la qualité sensorielle des fromages. Chez la vache, avec des fabrications au lait entier, la race peut modifier les caractéristiques de texture des fromages. Cet effet est lié essentiellement aux différen-ces de composition chimique des laits et donc de gras/sec des fromages. Au sein d'une même race, des différences importantes de texture et de goût ont été observées en fonction des variants généti-ques de la caséine β (espèce bovine) et surtout α s1 (espèce caprine). Le stade physiologique n'a un effet marqué sur la couleur, la texture et le goût qu'en tout début ou en toute fin de lactation. En revanche, les mammites ont un effet négatif important sur les caractéristiques sensorielles des fromages. L'utilisation d'ensilage de maïs conduit toujours à des fromages plus blancs, et parfois à des différences de flaveur. Lorsqu'elle est correctement réalisée, la conservation de l'herbe sous forme * Corresponding author:...

Winter feeding systems and dairy cow breed have an impact on milk composition and flavour of two Protected Designation of Origin French cheeses

“…The present results showed, in particular, that the LowGS treatment led to cheeses much more yellow than those produced with the HighMS treatment. This result, already observed in the case of cheeses produced in other regions of France (Verdier-Metz et al, 1998;Houssin et al, 2002;Coulon et al, 2004), is related to a larger intake of carotenoid-type pigments with a diet containing preserved grass (Noziè re et al, 2006). Calderon et al (2007), Coulon (1997), Hurtaud et al (2001), Noziè re et al (2006) and Verdier-Metz et al (2002) have shown that milks are more yellow when associated with grass silage diets.…”

“…On the other hand, breed did not affect the firmness of cheeses measured by penetrometry, even if No cows tended to produce cheeses slightly harder under the rind. Coulon et al (2004) reported that the differences between breeds would only be perceptible when the cheeses are made from fullcream milk (like the Pont-l'Evê que cheese in our trial).…”

“…Moreover, such milks produce cheeses that are more yellow than those obtained with maize silage very poor in carotenes, which leads to whiter cheeses. The LowGS treatment also tended to produce less hard and more melting cheeses, which is clearly a result of the modification in the FA profile of the milk, and in particular the C18:1/ C16:0 ratio (Hurtaud et al, 2001;Bugaud et al, 2002;Coulon et al, 2004). The presence of these FA increases the fluidity of the fat content and thus leads to softer cheeses (Hurtaud et al, 2001;Bugaud et al, 2002).…”

Characteristics of major traditional regional cheese varieties of East-Mediterranean countries: a review

“…Also, the pedoclimatic conditions dictate the botanical flora and, of course, the botanical composition of grass on which the living of these animals is based. In turn, the botanical composition of the pasture affects the organoleptic properties of the cheeses produced, especially their flavour, particularly when they are manufactured from raw milk [12].…”

Potentiality of front-face fluorescence spectroscopy to determine the geographic origin of milks from the Haute-Loire department (France)

“…Most of the studies regarding the relationship between grass quality and milk have so far been done on bulk milk samples from very small tours (few herds) [6,12,31]. Therefore, it would be interesting to validate the relevance on representative milk samples.…”