Influence of vegetable coagulant and ripening time on the lipolytic and sensory profile of cheeses made with raw goat milk from Canary breeds

Free fatty acids and sensory profiles were obtained for cheeses made with raw goat milk and vegetable coagulant, derived from the cardoon flower (Cynara cardunculus), at different ripening times (7 and 20 days). A solid–liquid phase extraction method followed by solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography was used. Profiles were also obtained with cheeses made with commercial coagulant, traditional kid rennet paste, and mixture coagulant (vegetable coagulant-kid rennet). The use of vegetable coagulant and vegetable coagulant-kid rennet is common in traditional Protected Designation of Origin cheeses such as “Queso Flor de Guia” and “Queso Media Flor de Guia” (Spain). Contents of short-chain free fatty acids (7.5–22.5 mmol·kg−1), medium-chain free fatty acids (0.4–3.7 mmol·kg−1), and long-chain free fatty acids (0.2–2.1 mmol·kg−1) varied depending on the coagulant type and the ripening time. Vegetable coagulant cheeses present odour intensity and flavour intensity much higher than commercial coagulant cheeses in the sensory analysis for cheeses obtained with seven days of ripening, but the values decrease when increasing the ripening time. Multivariate analysis allowed us to differentiate cheese samples according to the ripening time when using lipolytic profile and according to the coagulant type using the sensory profile.