SIMULTANEOUS DISTILLATION-EXTRACTION AND DYNAMIC HEADSPACE METHODS INTHE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF PARMESAN CHEESE VOLATILES

Dynamic headspace and simultaneous steam distillation-extraction techn iques were used to isolate volatile components of Parmesan cheese. Ide ntification of the substances was carried out by GC and GC-MS; 110 com pounds were identified in the samples obtained using the headspace tec hnique, 105 in the extracts; among them, about 50 compounds were isola ted with both procedures. Mass spectral data showed evidence for a num ber of newly reported compounds such as 3-(methylthio)propanal, delta- tetradecalactone, 9-tetradecenoic and 9-hexadecenoic acids. Mass spect ra of some compounds are discussed and a comparison between the result s obtained with the two sampling methods is given.