Sylviane Roger

Production of phenyl ethyl alcohol and its esters during ripening of traditional camembert

Abstract During raw milk camembert manufacturing, the production of phenyl ethyl alcohol and its esters reached a maximum after 1–2 weeks of ripening. Thereafter the concentration decreased to a level of about 1 ppm at the end of ripening. Spraying of cheese surfaces with a phenylalanine solution increased the observed maxima, but did not markedly change the concentrations at the end of ripening. The detection thresholds of phenyl ethyl alcohol, phenyl ethyl acetate, phenyl ethyl propanoate, determined in a model curd, were 8, 20, 18 ppm (odour thresholds) and 9, 18, 17 ppm (taste thresholds), respectively. The amounts present in raw milk camembert ripened for a long period were lower than these mean thresholds, but corresponded to the detection thresholds of the most sensitive panelists.