Study describes goat cheese flavors
The findings are published in the Journal of Sensory Studies.
Published lexicons for cheese were investigated before establishing a lexicon of 39 flavor attributes to represent sensory characteristics for the various cheeses.
Research aimed to specifically develop a list of detailed terms to evaluate the sensory characteristics of goat milk products is limited, the authors stated.
They added this is important because consumer tastes are changing and that whereas highly “goaty” flavored cheeses were desirable in the past, consumers are now demanding goat cheeses with milder flavors and a broader range of other flavor notes.
In total, 47 goat cheeses of different types were selected from 12 US states.
Attributes in majority of samples
The study found 28 attributes were present in a majority of samples and were able to describe most flavor characteristics.
Other attributes were used occasionally to describe specific characteristics of certain cheeses. A large number of attributes were needed to describe flavor characteristics of cheese samples with more complex flavors (i.e., mold-ripened samples).
Samples with milder characteristics (chèvre-style) needed a reduced number of terms and had lower intensities for most attributes.
Feta-style cheeses generally were more salty and cheddar-style cheeses were mostly nutty, waxy, and sweet.
Mold-ripened cheeses had musty-like characteristics and were more pungent and sharp. These attributes had higher intensities specifically for blue-type cheeses. The goaty flavor attribute was higher for mold-ripened cheeses but was characteristic of all the goat cheeses.
The authors said the work can be a valuable resource for goat cheese producers. Any producer can use the study as a tool for learning, benchmarking, development, and quality control of goat cheese as it shows the types of flavors typical in a wide variety of goat cheeses.
Source: Journal of Sensory Studies, December 2016
Flavor lexicon and characteristics of artisan goat cheese from the United States
Authors: Martin Talavera and Delores H. Chambers
