Aroma compounds from Bitto cheese by simultaneous distillation extraction and gas-chromatographic mass spectrometric profiling

Volatile compounds from Bitto cheese samples, terpenes and sesquiterpenes from plant species and cheeses have been isolated by Simultaneous Distillation-Extraction (SDE) technique, identified by gas-chromatographic mass spectrometric (GC/MS) profiling and quantified by internal standard procedure. All samples came from farms where cows and goats grazed on pasture. Overall, 51 volatile compounds were identified. 10 terpenes were isolated from cheese samples and 42 terpenes from grass samples. Aldehydes and methyl ketones predominated in cheese samples, followed by free fatty acids and esters. With regard to terpene fraction, the most abundant compounds isolated in plant samples were γ-germacrene, γ-terpinene, frans-β-caryophyllene and α-pinene; on the other hand, α-pinene, γ-terpinene and frans-β-caryophyllene were the most abundant compounds found in Bitto cheese samples. The occurrence of relatively high amounts of α-pinene and γ-terpinene in plants and cheese suggests that these compounds may be used as markers through the sequence plant-animal-milk-cheese in a new approach in characterisation of mountain dairy products.