Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 14.10.
Taste compounds in milk and milk products (modified from Singh
et al., 2007)
Taste/other
Compounds
Products
complex sensation
Lactose
Sweet
Milk, concentrated / evaporated
milks, dried milk powders
Sucrose
Sweet
Sweetened yogurt, ice creams,
sweetened condensed/evaporated
milks
Lactic acid
Sour
Fermented milks / cream, cheeses
Acetic/propanoic acid
Sour
Fermented milks, cheeses
Propionic acid
Sour, umami
Umami taste in Swiss cheese
Succinic acid
Umami
Umami taste in Swiss cheese
Ca/Mg salt of propanoic
acid
Sweet
Cheeses
Peptides
Mostly bland, some can be
bitter, sour or umami
Milk, Fermented milks, cheeses
-Glutamyl dipeptides
Sour, salty, brothy metallic
Comt´ Cheese
Amino acids
Gly, Ala, Ser, Thr
Sweet
Cheeses
Glu, Asp, Gln, Asn
Sour, umami
Cheeses
His
Sour (?)
Cheeses
Pro, Lys
Sweet, bitter
Leu, Val, Ile, Arg, Phe,
Tyr
Bitter
Cheeses
Trp
NaCl
Salty
Cheeses
Ethanol
Slightly sweet, cooling/
drying sensation
Fermented milks (e.g., Kefir,
Koumiss)
CO
2
Sour, fresh,
cooling sensation
Fermented milks (e.g., Kefir,
Koumiss)
Table 14.10 lists a number of compounds, and their taste contribution,
present in dairy products. Important details available in the literature on taste
compounds are summarized below:
The main taste compounds in milk are lactose (approximately
0.3 times as sweet as sucrose) and the dissolved salts, which
cause a sweet and salty taste, respectively. The sweet taste dom-
inates, whereas salty taste is prevalentiftheNa/lactoseratiois
high, as in the case of mastitic milk. The casein reportedly some-
what masks the sweet taste of lactose in milk (Walstra et al., 1999).
Lactose-hydrolyzed milk and whey have a sweeter taste than reg-
ular pasteurized milk.
