Potent odorants and sensory characteristics of the soft white cheese “Jben”: Effect of salt content

Jben is a highly popular soft white cheese consumed in Morocco for its nutritional and health benefits. The aroma and aroma-active compounds of salted and unsalted Jben were investigated in this study. Aroma compounds were isolated by the purge and trap extraction (PTE) method and analysed by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC–MS-O). A total of 36 aroma compounds were characterized Jben samples, among them 30 and 32 compounds were detected in the salted Jben (260.88 mg/kg) and unsalted Jben (230.04 mg/kg) samples respectively. The alcohols, followed by acids and esters, were the most dominant aroma compounds in both samples. A total of 22 (salted Jben) and 25 (unsalted Jben) aroma-active compounds were detected in the samples using GC–MS-O. Based on the flavour dilution (FD) factor, the most potent aroma-active compounds were ethyl caproate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2306, overripe fruit and pineapple odours), isoamyl acetate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2491, apple odour), hexyl acetate (FD = 1024, OAV = 1355, green odour), and isoamyl butyrate (FD = 1024, OAV = 932, green-fruity odour) for the salted Jben sample and ethyl caproate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2388) and isoamyl acetate (FD = 1024, OAV = 880) for the unsalted Jben sample. The odour activity values (OAVs) ranged from 1 to 2491. The lowest OAVs represent the low aromatic active compounds (FD ≤ 32). The GC–MS-O results were also consistent with the results of sensory analysis of the Jben samples.