Taste and flavor modulation by biotransformation in milk products

A method to promote a non-savory flavor in a food product, the method comprising:

• providing an amino acid in a milk source either by adding at least one amino acid to the milk source or by adding a protease or peptidase to the milk source in order to obtain the amino acid from a milk protein, with the amino acid present in the milk source in an amount of 0.01 to 5 wt %;
• adding a micro-organism to the milk source, wherein the micro-organism comprises Lactococcus lactis and is selected for producing at least one enzyme capable of converting the amino acid;
• fermenting the milk source, amino acid and micro-organism, for 3 to 12 hours at a temperature of 8 to 50° C., wherein the at least one enzyme reacts with the amino acid to form a direct or indirect conversion product which provides a non-savory flavor, with the conversion product including one or more of 3-methylbutanal, 2-methyl-butanal, 2-methyl-1-propanal, 2-phenylacetaldehyde, 2,3-butandione (diacetyl), 3-hydroxy-2-butaneone (acetoin), 2-phenyl-2-butenal and other phenyl-aldehydes having a C10-C16 carbon chain, benzaldehyde, 5-methyl-2-phenyl-cis-2-hexenal (cocal), 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl pyrazine, 2,4,5-trimethyl oxazole, delta-octalactone (5-octanolide), deltadecalactone (5-decanolide), delta-dodecalactone (5-dodecanolide), butanoic acid, hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, or 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3 (2H)-furanone (furaneol);
• adding a lipase prior to the fermenting, and adding a lactase after the fermenting to form a fermented milk source, wherein the lipase and the lactase are added in the form of enzyme preparations or in the form of immobilized enzymes in an amount effective to further modulate taste or flavor of the final fermented milk source;
• drying the fermented milk source;
• and
• adding the fermented milk source to a food product in an amount sufficient to promote a non-savory flavor therein, wherein the fermented milk source is added in an amount effective to enable the conversion product to impart the non-savory flavor without generating any yoghurt or savory flavors in the food product, and wherein the non-savory flavor comprises honey, caramel, cocoa, malt, cream-caramel, sweet-honey cream, cocoa-cream, coffee, cream, butter, vanilla, nutty, chocolate, or a combination thereof.