Volatile profile evolution of Reggianito cheese during ripening under different temperature-time combinations

Abstract

Using solid-phase microextraction and gaschromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) procedure, volatile compoundswere studied during ripening of Reggianito cheeses stored under differenttemperature-time combinations. Volatile profile was characterised for cheesesripened under standard conditions at 0, 61, 124 and 180 days of ripening, andchanges occurring between 61 and 180 days were evaluated for cheeses in whichan elevated temperature of 20 °C was applied within the first month ofmaturation. A total of 41 volatile compounds including acids, ketones,aldehydes, esters, alcohols and hydrocarbons were identified. Despite thepresence of other compounds of potential relevance for cheese flavour, carboxylicacids clearly dominated the volatile profile of Reggianito cheeses. <span> </span>The more notable variations in the volatilefraction of Reggianito cheeses occurred during the first 2 months of ripeningand were mostly explained by changes observed for the predominant acid fraction.Significant changes in the quantities for some volatile compounds were observedfor the different temperature-time combinations applied, though the balancebetween the different groups of compounds was not considerably affected andsmall changes were observed for total chromatographic area values. In this work,a first description of changes occurring during ripening for the differentvolatile compounds present in traditional Reggianito cheese was provided.