ABSTRACT
160Consumers enjoy the delicate flavor of milk and other milk-derived dairy products and it is a key parameter for product acceptance. Fresh milk is a rather bland product: it has a pleasant, slightly sweet aroma and flavor, and a pleasant mouthfeel and aftertaste. The flavor of milk and milk products is largely influenced by genetic and environmental factors which include the physical and physiological condition of mulching animal, the type of feed and fodder, the environment around the cow and the milking area, and biological, chemical, and enzymatic changes in milk during production and distribution. More than 400 volatile compounds have been reported in milk, covering a wide range of chemical classes including lactones, acids, esters, ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, furans, carbonyls, pyrazines, sulfur compounds, and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The chapter discusses in detail the various routes for flavor production in milk and milk products via different biotechnological routes.
