Interrelationships of Flavor and Chemical Changes in Cheese

Abstract

A review of selected studies of Cheddar and Swiss cheese, emphasizing certain factors which appear to be involved with the flavor balance, flavor formation, and flavor stability of cheese. Free fatty acids and hydrogen sulfide are important ripening products in Cheddar cheese. Desirable flavor occurs only when these compounds are present in definite interdependent concentrations. Furthermore, the formation of active sulfhydryl (-SH) groups in Cheddar and Swiss cheese during curing may be the key to the development of characteristic cheese flavor. For Cheddar cheese, the formation of active -SH groups is impaired by heat treatment of the milk, relatively high redox potentials of the cheese, and the presence of copper. In contrast, the concentrations of active -SH groups in Swiss cheese appear to be unaffected by redox potential and copper content but may be affected by the rate of acid development during manufacturing.Consumer-packaging of cheese generally results in loss of flavor quality. Primarily, the flavor change appears to be a function of the redox stability of the cheese, and the change may be retarded by the exclusion of air from the cut cheese surface. The need for processes which will result in accelerated cheese ripening and which will provide maximum control over flavor quality and flavor stability is discussed.