Aroma characterisation of Gouda-type cheeses

The aim of this study was to characterise flavour differences between short-ripened Gouda-type cheeses produced from raw and pasteurised milk and to follow, in the case of pasteurised milk cheeses, flavour evolution during ripening. The volatile composition of the cheeses was studied using a combination of simultaneous steam distillation–extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Visualisation of the analytical results was performed by principal component analysis. A clear differentiation between raw milk cheese and pasteurised milk cheese was observed and the evolution of the volatile composition of the pasteurised cheese samples during ripening was clearly demonstrated. Partial least squares regression was used to examine possible relationships between the chemical–analytical and sensory descriptive data.