Relationships between flavour and chemical composition of Abondance cheesederived from different types of pastures

The relationships between the flavour and composition of half-cooked presse d Abondance cheese (Haute-Savoie, France) were studied under natural cheese production conditions on the basis of different pastures exploited by 3 pr oducers. Cheeses manufactured from milk produced from mountain pastures (M, n = 5, 1500-1850 m) were deemed to be more "fruity", "animal", "boiled mil k" and "hazelnut" and less pungent and "propionic acid" than cheeses made f rom milk produced from valley pastures (V, n = 5,850-1100 m). It was possib le to partly attribute these differences in flavour to the presence of prot ein-based volatile compounds in the cheeses. The V cheeses had a greater va riety of flavours than the M cheeses. Cheeses from gramineae-rich pastures had the most intense "cooked cabbage" odours, related to the greater amount s of sulphur compounds in these cheeses. Terpenes, which are more abundant in cheeses produced from dicotyledon-rich pastures, did not contribute dire ctly to cheese aroma. The differences in flavour between the cheeses manufa ctured by the 3 producers were of the same magnitude as those observed betw een different pastures used by a same producer. The origin of the volatile compounds in the cheeses - whether of microbial origin or from the feed - w as discussed.