Flavour retention by lipids measured in a fresh cheese matrix

Interactions between lipids and several aroma compounds (aldehydes, methylketones, esters, and dimethyldisulfide) were studied in a real food system composed of fresh cheese, triolein, and water. The concentration of ‘free’ ligands was measured with a dynamic headspace-gas chromatographic system. From our results, we conclude that retention of all flavouring molecules increases with the amount of triolein. This phenomenon is highly influenced, however, by the structure of the aroma compound, as demonstrated by RP-HPLC lipophilicity determinations. Within the same chemical family there exists a linear relationship between the lipophilicity index kw and retention, indicating that this physicochemical property should be taken into account in choosing the best internal analytical standard.