Evaluation of taste compounds in water-soluble extract of goat cheeses

The water-soluble fractions of two goat cheeses - one denomination of origin commercial trade mark (crottin de Chavignol(R)) and one bought in a local cheese making establishment (Bouton de culotte(R))- containing many taste and flavour molecules were studied. Ultrafiltration with a 1000 Da threshold membrane, followed by gel filtration on Toyopearl HW-40S gel using water as eluent, led to the production of edible fractions. Physicochemical and sensory analysis of these fractions showed that the most tasty fractions contained, essentially, the free amino acids and mineral salts. Some of these tasty fractions also imparted some flavours. The quantity of small peptides (MW < 1000 Da) in the ultrafiltered water-soluble fractions was rather high but the gel filtration fractions containing, essentially, the peptides were not tasty. That result minimises the direct impact of these compounds on the taste of cheeses. The concentrations of each free amino acid in the fractions were found to be lower than their respective reported threshold values. Among the quantified compounds, it seems that only mineral salts and lactic acid are direct taste-active components in cheeses. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.