Influences of processing on flavour related volatile compounds in New Zealand sheep milk

Sheep and goat milk is considered as a good substitute of cow milk due to their higher levels of major nutrients than cow milk [1]. However, goat milk has a strong unpleasant goaty-sheepy flavour which is much lower in sheep milk. The distinct goaty-sheepy flavour in sheep and goat milk is linked to the presence of volatile branched chain fatty acids (vBCFAs) such as 4-ethyloctanoic acid (4-Et-8:0) and 4-methyloctanoic acid (4-Me-8:0), particularly when these vBCFAs are present as in the free form. In our previous paper [2], we showed that 4-Et-8:0 plays the predominant role on this unique flavour compared with 4-Me-8:0 due to its lower sensory threshold.