Current knowledge of soft cheeses flavor and related compounds.

Cheese aroma is the result of the perception of a large number of molecules belonging to different chemical classes. The volatile compounds involved in the soft cheese flavor have received a great deal of attention. However, there has been less work concerning the volatile compounds in the soft smear-ripened cheeses than in the mold-ripened cheeses. This paper reviews the components that contribute to the characteristic flavor in the soft cheeses such as surface-ripened, Camembert-type, and Blue cheeses. The sensory properties and quantities of the molecules in the different cheeses are discussed. Keywords: Cheese flavor; soft cheese; volatile compounds; sensory properties