Contribution of Penicillium sp. to the Flavors of Brie and Camembert Cheese

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Abstract
Volatile flavor compounds produced by Penicillium caseicolum in domestic and French Brie cheese were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; they included carbon-5, carbon-7, carbon-9, carbon-11, methyl ketones and corresponding secondary alcohols, 2-octanone, 3-octanone, 1-octen-3-ol, 1,5-octadien-3-ol, 1,5-octadien-3-one and 2-methylisoborneol. Lipoxgenase formation of the 8 carbon compounds responsible for the mushroom, plant-like flavors of mold surface-ripened cheeses was enhanced either by the disruption of mold mycelia or the addition of specific .omega.-3 and .omega.-6 fatty acid precursors. The occurrence of 8-nonen-2-one in mold-ripened cheeses was associated with the .beta.-oxidative conversion of a specific unsaturated fatty acid resulting from initial lipoxygenase attack on either linoleic or linolenic acids.