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Say Cheese

French scientists have used mass spectrometry to sample the vapor off cheeses in order to fingerprint and classify different varieties.

The characterization of raw materials and foods is of prime importance to the agricultural food industry. Recent research has shown that the rapid analysis of the volatile fraction of foods by mass spectrometry is a particularly valuable tool.

In this study, the volatile components from cheeses were extracted in a stream of helium and concentrated on a trap. They were then desorbed by heating and injected directly into the source of a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer.

The mass spectra of the mixture of volatile components were considered as fingerprints of the analyzed substances. Forwardanalysis afforded a limited number of characteristic mass fragments that allowed a good classification of the batches of cheeses studied.

The results of the tests show that 100% of the cheeses were well classified. A more detailed study of the distribution of the groups indicated that the raw milk cheeses could be distinguished from heat-treated ones by fragments characteristic of sulfur-containing compounds characteristic of camembert.

The full article appears in Volume 74, 2002 of the journal Analytical Chemistry.

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