Metabolism of aromatic amino acids by lactic acid bacteria is an important source of off-flavor compounds in Cheddar cheese. Previous work has shown that alpha-keto acids produced from Trp, Tyr, and Phe by aminotransferase enzymes are chemically labile and may degrade spontaneously into a variety of off-flavor compounds. However, dairy lactobacilli can convert unstable alpha-keto acids to more-...
