title: Profiling aged artisanal Cheddar cheese using secondary electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: A number of direct injection mass spectrometry methods that can sample foods nondestructively and without sample preparation are being developed with applications ranging from the rapid assessment of food safety to the verification of protected designations of origin. In this pilot study, secondary electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) in positive- and negative-ion modes was used to collect volatile fingerprints of artisanal Cheddar cheeses aged for one to three years. SESI-MS fingerprints were found to change in an aging-dependent manner and can be used to descriptively and predictively categorize Cheddars by their aging period, identify volatile components that increase or decrease with aging, and robustly discriminate individual batches of artisanal cheese. From these results, it was concluded that SESI-MS volatile fingerprinting could be used by artisanal food producers to characterize their products during production and aging, providing useful data to help them maximize the value of each batch.
authors: †Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College,14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States.
authors: Heather D
authors: HD
authors: Bean
authors: †Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College,14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States.
authors: Theodore R
authors: TR
authors: Mellors
authors: ‡Northwest Metabolomics Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, 850 Republican Street, Room S140, Seattle, Washington 98109, United States.
authors: Jiangjiang
authors: J
authors: Zhu
authors: †Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College,14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States.
authors: Jane E
authors: JE
authors: Hill
mesh_terms: D002611:Cheese / Q000032:analysis*; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D005511:Food Handling; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013997:Time Factors; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005421:Flavoring Agents; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Cheddar cheese; SESI-MS; artisanal food production; volatile fingerprinting