A study of the volatile composition of Minas cheese

Minas cheese is a food product of significant economic importance to the Brazilian dairy industry. With the intent of providing product identity for legal, economic and manufacturing purposes, several studies have been conducted to define the proximate composition, starter and ripening microflora and manufacturing protocol for Minas cheese. However, studies have yet to characterize the flavor character of Minas cheese, namely the volatile profile. For this purpose, volatiles were investigated using dynamic headspace sampling and GC-MS analysis. Quantitation was based on the recovery of authentic compounds where available. A total of 54 compounds were positively identified and 51 quantified, including fatty acids (11), alcohols (14), aldehydes (5), ketones (6), esters (7), terpenes (8) and lactones (2). The impact of individual volatile compounds on the flavor profile of Minas cheese is discussed. Some of major metabolic pathways for their biosynthesis are reviewed to indicate the possible origin of the compounds identified.