HS-SPME/GC–MS AND CHEMOMETRIC APPROACH FOR THE STUDY OF VOLATILE PROFILE IN X-RAY IRRADIATED SURFACE-RIPENED CHEESES

HS-SPME/GC–MS AND CHEMOMETRIC APPROACH FOR THE STUDY OF VOLATILE PROFILE IN X-RAY IRRADIATED SURFACE-RIPENED CHEESES R. Zianni1 , M. Campaniello1 , A. Mentana1 , M. Tomaiuolo1 , M. Iammarino1 , D. Centonze2 , C. Palermo3 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Laboratorio Nazionale di Riferimento per il trattamento degli alimenti e dei loro ingredienti con radiazioni ionizzanti, Via Manfredonia, 20 - 71121 Foggia, Italy 2Università di Foggia, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Via Napoli 25 - 71122 Foggia, Italy 3Università di Foggia, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Via Napoli 25 - 71122 Foggia, Italy Food irradiation is a preservation procedure that consists in exposing foodstuffs to doses of ionising radiations, such as X-ray, γ-ray and electron beams1 . The irradiation of surface mould-ripened soft cheese, such as Brie and Camembert, could be an alternative to traditional thermal pasteurisation to guarantee the microbiological safety and prolong shelf-life of such cheeses. To date, few analytical investigations have been carried out on the effects of X-ray irradiation treatment on the volatile profile of soft cheeses1,2 . Hence, volatolomic studies about the cheese fingerprint modified from the irradiation and the related outcomes can be useful to identify potential markers of treatment. In this study, X-ray irradiation was applied to Brie and Camembert-type cheeses produced with cow milk and the modifications in the composition of volatile organic compounds have been investigated. HS-SPME technique combined with GC-MS was used to extract and analyse the volatile fraction from the dairy matrices. A Central Composite Design for Response Surface Methodology was employed to optimise the HS-SPME parameters in terms of extraction temperature, extraction time and sample amount. Hence, the best conditions were applied to non-irradiated and X-ray irradiated samples at three dose levels (2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 kGy) and the differences have been evaluated by means of a chemometric discrimination. Principal Component Analysis and Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis were used to discriminate the variation of volatile profiles among non-irradiated and irradiated samples. The outcomes demonstrated that the X-ray irradiation treatment differently affected the volatile classes of aroma Brie and Camembert-type cheeses. Finally, the results could be useful to identify potential markers of X-ray treatment for control purposes of irradiated soft cheeses. References: 1. Zianni, R., Mentana, A., Tomaiuolo, M., Campaniello, M., Iammarino, M., Centonze, D., & Palermo, C., Food Chemistry 423 (2023) 136239. 2. Zianni, R., Mentana, A., Campaniello, M., Chiappinelli, A., Tomaiuolo, M., Chiaravalle, A.E., & Marchesani, G., LWT- Food Science and Technology 153 (2022) 1-7.