Résumé
The effect of the small water-soluble peptides on the taste of cheeses has not been clarified yet because of the high difficulties to isolate them from the other water-soluble compounds. A new filtration method, nanofiltration, using ionizable membranes, allowed us to purify a peptidic fraction prepared from the permeate obtained by ultrafiltration (MWCO=1000) of a goat cheese water-soluble extract. A large proportion of mineral salts and a part of amino acids were eliminated from the nanofiltration retentate where a majority of small peptides were concentrated.The peptidic fraction was incorporated in a cheese model with known synergistic effectors such as mineral salts and amino acids. Sensory evaluation was done bysome omission tests. The results showed that the small peptides fraction had no effect on the taste of the cheese and no synergistic effects were observed. The nanofiltration technique showed its interest and should be applied to other cheeses and foodstuffs after optimization.