Enhancing dairy-like aromas and reducing beany flavours in mould-ripened soy cheeses

Plant-based cheese alternatives often lack desirable cheese-like flavours characteristics of traditional dairy cheeses. This study aimed to develop soy-based cheeses with flavour profiles comparable to blue and white mould-ripened dairy cheeses, such as Roquefort and Camembert. Volatile compound profiles were analysed from soymilk fermented with Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium camemberti. However, these fermentations failed to produce key ketone flavour compounds, such as 2-heptanone and 2-nonanone, likely due to the absence of medium-chain fatty acid precursors in plain soymilk. To address this, nine plant-based oils were screened, and coconut oil was identified as the only source that supported methyl ketone production by Penicillium spp. Mould-ripened soy cheeses supplemented with coconut oil released significantly higher levels of methyl ketones, closely matching those in dairy counterparts. In addition, beany flavour compounds such as hexanal and hexanol were substantially reduced by mould metabolism. Principal component analysis showed clustering of P. roqueforti-ripened soy cheese with commercial blue and white mould-ripened dairy cheeses, whereas P. camemberti-ripened soy cheese had a more distinct volatile profile. These findings underscore the importance of substrate composition, particularly the lipid type, in enhancing flavour development in soy-based cheeses.