Using Sensory Analysis to Understand Your

Product: Defining Flavor of Cheeses

MaryAnne DrakeNorth Carolina State university

Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center

▪ Ultimate goal for any application – ingredient or finished product

▪ Flavor impacts customer preference

▪ Flavor never goes out of style!

A matter of taste

The bottom line

•Competitive, global and expanding market

•What are the keys to success?

•Make what people want to buy

•Make what people want to eat

•Deliver target flavors to customers

More than marketing

•Deliver target flavors

•To do this we need to:•Understand the consumer•Understand our product

•Sensory analysis is required

Defining flavor: provides the platform

•Enhanced product understanding• Influence of processing• Influence of aging•Comparisons with competitors•Can be linked with flavor chemistry to identify

flavor sources•Can be linked with consumer liking

cooked

whey

diacetyl

milkfat

brothy

sulfur

fruity

FFAcatty

nutty

umami

bitter

sour

sweet

salty

cowy

Basic Tastes Aromatics

The Basic Cheese Lexicon

cooked

whey

fresh

oxidized

diacetyl

milkfat

brothybeefy

vegetable

spicy

rosysulfur

match-like

eggy

fruity

fresh

fermented

FFA cowy

barny

phenolicfecal

mothball

salty

sweet

sour

umami

bitter

catty nutty

Advanced

Cheese Lexicon

Basic TastesAromatics

sweaty

butyric

roasted

malty

vinegar

Some key questions

•How does ripening influence Cheddar cheese flavor?•Are there regional differences in Cheddar cheese flavor?•Are there international differences in Cheddar cheese flavor?•Does milk pasteurization impact flavor?•What about other cheeses?

Setting the Stage: Cheddar cheese flavor

MILK Fresh Cheddar Curd

Manufacture StepsMilk type, quality and heat trtStarter culture acidificationCoagulation with rennetDehydration (cutting, cooking, salting, pressing)Time: up to 24 h

Step 1

Flavor profile: Simple, Salty and sour taste, low milky, whey

and buttery flavors

Texture profile: firm, elastic, no breakdown when chewed

Setting the Stage: Cheddar cheese flavor

Fresh Cheddar Curd Cheddar Cheese

Ripening: biochemical cascadeglycolysisproteolysislipolysisTime: months - years

Step 2

Flavor profile: very complex, wide array of flavors and intensities

Texture profile: Brittle/fracturable, breakdown in mouth

1. Influence of ripening

•Age does matter

•Flavor profile develops with ripening•“Aged” flavors appear•“Young” flavors decrease•Flavor differences are more pronounced•Dependent on the stage set in Step 1

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1 mo 3 mo 9 mo 18 mo

milky

whey

buttery

sulfur

brothy

nutty

bitter

Influence of ripening

intensity

Young milky flavorsPredominate

Influence of Ripening

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1 mo 3 mo 9 mo 18 mo

milky

whey

buttery

sulfur

brothy

nutty

bitter

intensity

Aged flavors predominate

2. Are there regional differences in U.S. Cheddar cheeses?

•20 production facilities manufacturing year-round• 4 Northeast• 7 Midwest• 7 Northwest• 2 California

• Triplicate 18 kg blocks (< 1 mo) from 3 different vats provided three times per year for two years•Blocks aged at 7C

Cheddar cheese production facilities

NW

CA

Midwest NE

CA1

CA2

NE3

NW4

Mid7

NW1

NW5

NW6

Mid4

(P1 43 %)

(P2 28%)

Mid2brothy

cooked

sulfurnutty

sour

fruity

milkfat

diacetyl

ffa

whey

Cheddar cheeses aged for 6 months

Mid5

NW2

NE4salty

sweetbitter

umami

catty

Mid3

NE2

NW3

NE1

Mid1

Mid6

feed

stirred

stirred

milled

milled

milled

milled

stirred

stirred

milled

(P1 43 %)

(P2 28%)

milledbrothy

cooked

sulfurnutty

sour

fruity

milkfat

diacetyl

ffa

whey

Cheddar cheeses aged for 6 months

milled

milled

milledsalty

sweetbitter

umami

catty

stirred

stirred

milled

milled

milled

stirred

feed

CA1

CA2

NE3

NW4Mid7

NW1

NW5NW6

Mid4

(P1 42 %)

(P2 29%)

Mid2brothy

cooked

sulfurnutty

sour

fruity

milkfat

diacetyl

ffa

whey

Cheddar cheeses aged for 12 months

Mid5

NW2

NE4

salty

sweet

bitter

umami

catty

Mid3

NE2

NW3

NE1

Mid1

Mid6

feed

Conclusions

•Some regional effects exist, specifically for NE and NW cheeses •Differences in aged U.S. Cheddar cheese flavor are most strongly influenced by individual processing facility practices•Flavor is specific to facility not region of manufacture

3. Are there international differences?

Fluid milk flavor varies…..

Salty

Astringency

Feed/Malty

Sweet Aromatic Cowy/Barny

Grassy

Milk Fat

Cooked

Sweet

PC1 (91%)

Aroma Intensity

TMR Jersey

TMR Holstein

PB Jersey

PB Holstein

PC2 (7%)

Flavor of milk from pasture-fed cowsIs different from that ofTMR-fed cowsMore grassy flavors in pasture-fed milk

These flavor differences in the milk will Influence cheese flavor

IR4

IR1

IR3

IR2

NZ2

NZ4

NZ1

NZ3

US4

US3

US2

(P1 63 %)

(P2 20%)

US1

Cheddar cheese flavor from different countries

U.S. PERSPECTIVE

IR4

IR1

IR3

IR2

NZ2

NZ4

NZ1

NZ3

US4

US3

US2

(P1 63 %)

(P2 20%)

Cheddar cheese flavor from different countries

US1

Cooked/milkyWheyDiacetyl

Milkfat

cowy

Grassy/feed

fruity sulfur

ffa

brothy

nutty

catty

bitter salty

umami

U.S. PERSPECTIVE

1.5

-1.5

-2 2

PC1 42%

PC2 18%

14

29

33

16

30

1110

43

26

34

27

7

6

35

921

31

2313

15

25

bitter fruity

milkfat

Free fatty acid

brothy

sour

Cooked/milky

36sulfur

whey

saltyumami

nutty

prickle

24

3732

17 2228

18

208

12

191

52

sweet

caramelphenolic

grassymothball

Sensory profiles of aged domesticAnd international Cheddar cheeses

1.5

-1.5

-2 2

PC1 42%

PC2 18%

14

29

33

16

30

1110

43

26

34

27

7

6

35

921

31

2313

15

25

bitter fruity

milkfat

Free fatty acid

brothy

sour

Cooked/milky

36sulfur

whey

saltyumami

nutty

prickle

24

3732

17 2228

18

208

12

191

52

sweet

caramelphenolic

grassymothball

Sensory profiles of aged domesticAnd international Cheddar cheeses Irish and UK cheeses

•Wide variety of flavor profiles across all cheeses but……•International Cheddars differentiated by sweet taste, caramelized, grassy, and barny flavors•Domestic Cheddars characterized by higher sulfur and brothy notes

Cheese flavors

4. The role of pasteurization

•Several reasons to pasteurize

•Does it impact flavor when everything else is optimal?

The role of pasteurization

•Physical/chemical effects•Many microorganisms inactivated•Some milk enzymes inactivated•Flavors formed from heat treatment

•Does it impact cheese flavor?•Yes and no

Sensory profiles of raw and pasteurized milk

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

sweet

aromatic

cooked/

milky

fruity serumy sweet

taste

Raw

Pasteurized

intensity

Cheeses

•Slight but distinct differences in flavor at 2 weeks

•Volatile compounds consistently distinct

•Faster flavor development in raw milk cheese compared to pasteurized milk

•Consistent fruity/phenolic note in raw milk cheeses

Flavor development of raw and pasteurized milk cheeses from the same milk

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

raw - 4 pasteurized - 4 raw - 8 pasteurized - 8

sulfur

brothy

fruity

nutty

Intensity

4 months ripening

8 months ripening

Flavor effects

•Small but distinct effects•Very low intensities of fruity/phenolic flavors in raw milk cheeses•Faster flavor development in raw milk cheese

•Not the driving or sole source of distinct or desirable Cheddar flavors

5. Consumer perception of Gouda cheeses

Trained panel profiles of Gouda flavor and texture

169

629

028

318

707499

254

613

373

495

342386

416

198864187

500

608

539

212

620

677

267

520

235

180

2…

076

847

158 612

834

995904

H. Firmness

H. Springiness

H. Recovery

FirmnessFracture

Breakdown

Cohesiveness

Adhesiveness

SmoothnessMouthcoating

Cooked

Sr .AromaticWhey

Diacetyl

Milkfat

Fruity

Caramel

Malty/Nutty

Brothy

SulfurSour

Sweet

Salty Umami

Bitter

Cowy/BarnyMothball

Grassy

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

F2 (

26 %

)

F1 (40 %)

Increasing age

Trained panel profiles of Gouda flavor and texture

169

629

028

318

707499

254

613

373

495

342386

416

198864187

500

608

539

212

620

677

267

520

235

180

2…

076

847

158 612

834

995904

H. Firmness

H. Springiness

H. Recovery

FirmnessFracture

Breakdown

Cohesiveness

Adhesiveness

SmoothnessMouthcoating

Cooked

Sr .AromaticWhey

Diacetyl

Milkfat

Fruity

Caramel

Malty/Nutty

Brothy

SulfurSour

Sweet

Salty Umami

Bitter

Cowy/BarnyMothball

Grassy

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

F2 (

26 %

)

F1 (40 %)

Consumer liking of Goudas

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ove

rall

Lik

ing

Cluster One Cluster Two Cluster Three Overall

N= 150 U.S. cheese consumers

Consumer preference map of Gouda cheeses

Three distinct consumer clusters

• Aged Goudas with intense caramel, nutty and brothy flavors and hard, brittle texture are preferred by one group of consumers

• Best liked Gouda by all consumers is mild with a smooth elastic texture and milky, buttery and whey flavors

• U.S. Goudas fall in this category (mild/medium) and are equally appealing to consumers

So what influences cheese flavor?

▪Cheese flavor is a combination of many factors that all contribute to final cheese flavor:•Animal feed•Milk quality•Heat trt•Cheesemake conditions•Cooling and ripening conditions

Conclusions

•A defined sensory language can be linked with products and consumer to provide• Increased product understanding •Sources of flavors and flavor variability• Insights into the consumer

•Sensory lexicons which define dairy flavorsprovide the keys to research and marketing

Acknowledgements

•National Dairy Council (NDC)

• Special thanks to the companies that graciously provided cheese for hands-on tasting!• Cabot Creamery Coop (Cabot, VT)

• Tillamook County Creamery (Tillamook, OR)• Beechers (Seattle, WA)