The cheesy flavor of microbes

Cheddar's microbial mastery Making a cheese with a particular flavor turns out to be biochemically complex. Cheese makers already know that flavors and texture are strongly influenced by factors such as types of milk and rennet, as well as the duration and location of ripening. But a recent study by a panoply of scientists in Europe found that cheeses made with the same ingredients can differ wildly in flavor according to the presence and combination of certain microbes ( Nat. Commun. 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41059-2 ). Led by Chrats Melkonian, a cheese lover and bioinformatic scientist specializing in microbial ecology and evolution at Utrecht University, the team of scientists embarked on a yearlong investigation of the factors influencing the taste of cheese using cheddar—a hard, yellow cheese created in Cheddar, England. The researchers nibbled their way toward the discovery that two key microorganisms— Streptococcus thermophilus and certain strains of Lactococcus —are