Characterization of the volatile fraction and of free fatty acids of “Fontina Valle d’Aosta”, a protected designation of origin Italian cheese

The characterization of the volatile fraction of 24 samples of “Fontina Valle d’Aosta”, a protected designation of origin (PDO) semi-hard Italian cheese, was performed using the dynamic headspace extraction technique coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Seventy-four volatile compounds, belonging to several chemical classes, mainly alcohols, sulfur and carboxylic compounds, were identified, allowing characterization of the distinct flavour of “Fontina Valle d’Aosta PDO” cheese. The characterization of the cheese was done also in terms of free fatty acids and the mechanism of formation of some classes of compounds is considered. Determinations of fat, N-Kjeldhal and dry matter were also carried out in order to obtain a more complete description of the properties of this PDO Italian cheese.