Addition of pasture plant essential oil in milk: influence on chemical and sensory properties of milk and cheese.

The aim of this experiment was to study the effect of the addition, to milk, of an essential oil (EO) obtained from the hydrodistillation of plants collected from a mountain natural pasture on the milk and cheese sensory properties. The EO was mainly composed of terpenoid compounds (67 of the 95 compounds identified) as well as ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, esters, alkanes, and benzenic compounds. In milk, the addition of this EO at the concentration of 0.1 microL/L did not influence its sensory properties, whereas at 1.0 microL/L, sensory properties were modified. In cheeses, the effect of adding EO into milk was studied in an experimental dairy plant allowing the production of small Cantal-type cheeses (10 kg) in 3 vats processed in parallel. The control (C) vat contained 110 L of raw milk; in the other 2 vats, 0.1 microL/L (EO1) or 3.0 microL/L (EO30) of EO were added to 110 L of the same milk. Six replicates were performed. After 5 mo of ripening, chemical and sensory analyses were carried out on the cheeses, including determination of the volatile compounds by dynamic headspace combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The EO did not influence the sensory properties of the cheeses at the lower concentration (EO1). However, the EO30 cheeses had a more intense odor and aroma, both characterized as "mint/chlorophyll" and "thyme/oregano." These unusual odors and aromas originated directly from the EO added. In total, 152 compounds desorbing from cheese were found, of which 41 had been added with the EO; in contrast, 54 compounds of the EO were not recovered in the cheese. Few volatile compounds desorbing from cheeses, other than the added compounds, were affected by EO addition. Among them, 2-butanol, propanol, and 3-heptanone suggested a slight effect of the EO on lipid catabolism. The antimicrobial activity of terpenes is not or is only marginally involved in the explanation of the influence of the botanical composition of the meadows on the pressed cheeses sensory properties.