Cheese making has been around for thousands of years, and there are now more than 1,000 varieties of cheese around the world. But what exactly makes some cheeses like Parmesan taste fruity and others, like Brie and Camembert, taste rotten has remained something of a mystery. Now, scientists have identified the specific species of bacteria that composes these flavors.
Found, described 10 Nov Microbiology Spectrumcould help cheese makers more precisely tweak cheese flavor profiles to match better consumer preferences, say food microbiologist Morio Ishikawa and colleagues.
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The flavor of the cheese depends more on the type of milk and the bacteria used to make it deliciously fermented. The constellation of organisms that are involved in the ripening process of the cheese also contributes to the flavor (SN: 5/14/16).
Ishikawa, of the Tokyo University of Agriculture, likens these bacteria to an orchestra. “We can perceive the tones in a cheese orchestra playing like harmony, but we don’t know what each of those instruments is responding to.”
Previous research by Ishikawa and colleagues used genetic analysis, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to link specific flavor molecules with surface bacteria species of precooked cheese made from pasteurized and raw cow’s milk in Japan and France.
In the new study, to show that each bacterial strain is responsible for producing the flavor compound associated with it, the team released each type of microbe into their sample of unripe cheese. The researchers then noticed how the flavor of the compounds in the cheese changed over the course of twenty days.
especially Pseudoalteromonas – A type of marine bacteria—found in a variety of cheeses—produces most flavor compounds. And the microbes produce esters, ketones and sulfur compounds, which give the well-known fruity, brown and onion flavors in cheese.
In addition to helping people perfect cheeses, Ishikawa says the findings are helping cheesemakers to lead new orchestras that play new harmonies.
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