Abstract :
SMart Nose, the first artificial nose based on mass spectrometry, was used to investigate
the differences on aroma profile of Piacentinu cheese, a traditional Sicilian cheese obtained
with ewes’ milk and saffron. Local (L) or Commercial (C) saffron was added to cheeses
produced by traditional (wood) (L) and plastic (P) tool (tina). At the end, four groups of
cheeseswere obtained: LL, LC, PL, PC. The experimentwas replicated four times. All cheeses
samples were analysed at 0 days, 2 and 4 months of ripening. Groups of samples at 0 days
of ripeningwere not discriminated by SMart Nose; this is likely due to the undefined aroma
profile of fresh cheeses. Cheese samples at 2 and 4 months of ripening showed a clearer
separation. First data groupingwas made considering the tools used during cheese making,
as being constant. The instrument enabled the differentiation between the groups LL and
LC and the same result was obtained for cheese samples produced using plastic tools (PL
and PC). This indicates that the different kind of saffron (Local and Commercial) influences
the aroma components of the cheeses. The other data groupingwas performed considering
the saffron added as constant. LC and PC, LL and PLwere analysed and their good separation
indicates the important role of the tools on the aroma compounds of the Piacentinu cheese.
© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
