What Gives Cheddar Cheese Its Flavor? It Took Scientists A Year To Find Out

All the thousands of types of cheeses created by people have something in common: they are home to their own special communities of microbes

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Cheddar cheeses. Cheddar cheese, originally from Somerset County in the United Kingdom, has become a culinary classic around the world. (Credit: Richard North / CC BY 2.0 DEED)

Cheese: Truly, the holiday season is the cheese season. This is the time of the year when I miss cheese the most. (I’m vegan and have been so for many years.) Why do cheeses taste so incredible?

An international team of scientists based throughout Europe investigated this very important question for a time period of a year and now they’re sharing their findings with us. As many cheese connoisseurs know, the color, appearance, texture, smell and taste of cheeses are shaped by their special microbial zoos; the distinctive nutty, fruity, creamy and buttery flavors of different types of cheeses are the result of a variety of complex biochemical reactions carried out by its microbial community. And each type of cheese is home to its own special mix of microbes.

Although the compositional dynamics of cheese microbiomes are relatively well-known, the mechanistic roles and interactions of these microbes with each other in creating the flavor of cheeses is not at all well understood. For example, which microbes create which flavors?