Identification of Volatile Compounds Originating from Secondary Contamination and Packaging Materials in UF and White Brine Cheeses

Identification of volatile contaminants migrating from packaging materials that might affect the quality of packaged food and might cause problems to consumer health is great importance. Soft cheeses can undergo such migration and contamination during storage. This study aimed to exclusively identify abnormal volatile compounds in Iranian cheeses that likely originated from contamination and packaging rather than endogenous components using HS-SPME GC-MS. White brine and ultrafiltrated (UF) cheeses in packages were stored for 90 days at 4 degrees Celsius (°C). Headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) using polysulfone and mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN/Polysulfone) fiber coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to extract and analyze volatile compounds. Migration-based contaminants exclusively present in stored versus fresh cheeses were identified through National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library matching. In total 23 unwanted volatile contaminants originating from contamination/packaging were identified, including 19 compounds in white brine` cheese (phthalates, benzenecarboxylic acids, etc.) and 13 compounds in UF cheese (phthalates, benzenecarboxylic acids, triazenes, oximes, etc.). More migrants were observed in white brine cheese. Compounds also differed based on SPME extraction method. Prolonged storage induced migration of volatile contaminants from probable packaging sources into soft cheeses. Future research should focus on refining volatile organic compound (VOC)-based detection methods to enhance early identification of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms in cheese production.