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Methyl Mercaptan as a Component of Cheddar Cheese¹

Department of Food Science and Technology, Oregon State University, Corvallis

ABSTRACT

Methyl mercaptan has been found in irradiated sodium caseinate (3), soft cheeses (5, 6, 10), and semi-soft cheeses (5, 6), but there is only tentative evidence for its presence in hard cheese such as Cheddar (8). The purpose of this paper is twofold:

1. To present evidence that confirms the presence of methyl mercaptan in Cheddar cheese, and
   
2. To describe a method by which mercaptans can be isolated from a food, and how suitable derivatives can be prepared and studied by thin layer chromatography (TLC).
   

A low-temperature high-vacuum distillation apparatus by which Cheddar volatiles can be isolated has been described (8). In the present study the distillation apparatus was simplifled by eliminating Trap 1 [see Reference (8)]; hence, only two traps were used, a trap packed with 3-mm glass beads and a safety trap. In a typical distillation 2,600 ml of fat centrifuged from a 24-lb waxed wheel of high-quality raw-milk Cheddar cheese, 14 months old, was passed through the molecular still at 3 ml/min at 40 C and at about 1 µ Hg.

¹ This investigation was supported by Public Health Service Research Grant No. EF-269 from the Division of Environmental Engineering and Food Protection.