Interrelationships of Flavor and Chemical Changes in Cheese

A review of selected studies of Cheddar and Swiss cheese, emphasizing certain factors which appear to be involved with the flavor balance, flavor formation, and flavor stability of cheese. Free fatty acids and hydrogen sulfide are important ripening products in Cheddar cheese. Desirable flavor occurs only when these compounds are present in definite interdependent concentrations. Furthermore, the formation of active sulfhydryl (-SH) groups in Cheddar and Swiss cheese during curing may be the key to the development of characteristic cheese flavor. For Cheddar cheese, the formation of' active -SIt groups is impaired by heat treatment of the milk, relatively high redox potentials of the cheese, and the presence of copper. In contrast, the concentrations of active -StI groups in Swiss cheese appear to be unaffected by redox potential and copper content but may be affected by the rate of acid development during manufacturing.