According to recent studies, the bacteria that colonize different soft cheeses during the ripening process are partially responsible for the flavor of such cheeses. The study has been published in the American Society for Microbiology journal Microbiology Spectrum.
Beneficial bacteria break down proteins and lipids (derived from milk fat) as cheese ages, creating the chemicals that give ripening cheeses their distinctive scents. The primary element in the development of cheese’s qualities is the diversity of “non-starter” bacteria, which emerge spontaneously during ripening and produce taste compounds.
The role of microorganisms in flavor formation had not been fully understood, “due to the diversity of cheese varieties and the complexity of cheese microbial consortia,” said corresponding author Morio Ishikawa, Ph.D., a professor at the Department of Fermentation Science, Faculty of Applied Bioscience at the Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan.
In the study, the researchers described a method for identifying and examining specific bacteria that are known to be involved in the production of cheese. These bacteria included three phyla of bacteria, Firmicutes, which are lactic acid bacteria, as well as Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, which produce distinctive flavors in some cheeses.
By isolating and investigating microorganisms involved in flavor formation as targets, rather than blindly examining them, we will be able to scientifically evaluate the safety of these microorganisms. At the same time, it may be possible to construct a cheese production method that uses only those microorganisms that play a major role in flavor production.
Morio Ishikawa
The researchers demonstrated a connection between particular microbes and flavor by contrasting bacteria from all three phyla with other known flavor-producing bacteria in a cheese ripening test.
In surface-mold ripened cheeses, Ishikawa and his colleagues had employed statistical analysis to identify correlations between different bacterial kinds and the numerous volatile flavor-producing organic chemicals that each produces.
They next chose non-starter bacteria from taxa that had strong correlations with particular volatile chemicals and flavors, and they conducted cheese-ripening experiments to assess the association between particular microbes and flavors. These tests revealed that the bacteria from the correlational study were in fact in charge of the cheeses’ flavors.
Additionally, this research could provide a scientific basis for improving the safety and quality of cheese.
“By isolating and investigating microorganisms involved in flavor formation as targets, rather than blindly examining them, we will be able to scientifically evaluate the safety of these microorganisms. At the same time, it may be possible to construct a cheese production method that uses only those microorganisms that play a major role in flavor production,” said Ishikawa.
“The comprehensive insights into the complex associations between microbiota and flavor improve our systematic understanding of mechanism of cheese flavor production,” said Ishikawa.
The new research will not only provide a scientific basis for the traditional method of cheese production, but might also enable the creation of novel cheeses.
