33-2 |
Sensory evaluation of the taste components of Cheddar cheese |
B. YANG, Univ. of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55108 and Z. M. Vickers, Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition, Univ. of Minnesota, 225 FScN, 1334 Eckles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55108. Tastants may provide more information about Cheddar cheese flavor than volatile odorants. Taste components of Cheddar cheese appear to be important for both the character and the intensity of Cheddar cheese flavor. We have studied the role of Cheddar taste components in a series of studies. In the first phase of our study, we fractionated one mild Cheddar cheese and one aged Cheddar cheese into edible fractions by water extraction, freeze-drying and gel filtration. Each fraction from gel filtration was evaluated by a spectrometer and by three judges. Salty, sour and umami were the three predominant tastes present in the fractions. In the second phase, we attempted to construct a Cheddar cheese taste in water. Sodium chloride, lactic acid and mono-sodium glutamate produced salty, sour and umami tastes. Judges wearing nose-clips evaluated mixtures from a 33 full factorial design. We used response surface methodology to find optimal water mixtures that most closely resembled mild Cheddar taste and aged Cheddar taste. Less salt and acid were needed to simulate the taste of mild Cheddar, compared to aged Cheddar. In the third phase, we reconstructed Cheddar cheese taste in cheese model systems. One model included anhydrous milk fat, casein, water and rennet. A second model used a non-dairy gel system. A descriptive analysis panel, trained on the taste and trigeminal attributes of Cheddar cheese, evaluated samples from mixture designs to determine optimal mixtures matching the tastes of mild Cheddar cheese and aged Cheddar cheese. In the final phase, we compared the optimal water solutions, the optimal mixtures in the cheese model system and the optimal mixtures in non-dairy gel system with several Cheddar and non-Cheddar cheeses to measure how closely they matched real Cheddar taste.
Session 33, Sensory evaluation of dairy flavors
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