A Study of Key Aroma Compounds in Hurood Cheese and Their Potential Correlations with Lactic Acid Bacteria
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
General Comments
The manuscript investigates the key aroma compounds of Hurood cheese and their correlation with the dominant microbiota. It is a well-written manuscript, although some aspects in the English grammar could be improved (e.g. L 30 and 31, use simple present). An important failure is that Figure 1 is missing. Conclusions should be reconsidered; authors are claiming ‘functional’ properties in microbes with their correlation to the aroma compounds production. I suggest to define the term functional in the text and then clarify what exactly functions are claimed.
Specific comments
L 36-36, Lactobacillus spp.
L 42, what do you mean by the term ‘functional microbes’? is this a special group of microbes?
L 65, were the cheeses stored at 20 °C? for how long?
L 78, please add the name of the author just before the reference number.
L 133-135, to my opinion, this sentence is not needed and I suggest to be removed.
L 151, is reference No 20 that cited in L 151, Grosch et al 2010? Please check the numbering of references throughout.
L 204, is it overall sensory profile or aroma?
L 219, please use the reclassification of the genus Lactobacillus as suggested by Zheng et al 2020
L 281, please define what is ‘functional microorganisms’.
L 287, LAB instead of lactic acid bacteria
L 311, McSweeney
L 326, names of authors
L 333, names of authors
L 385 Dairy
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
We are very grateful for your comments on the manuscript. According to your advice, we tried our best to amend the relevant part. All of your questions were answered below. And here we list the changes and marked them in red in the revised paper.
Should you have any questions, please contact us without hesitation.
Once again, thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.
Yours Sincerely,
Yadong
- An important failure is that Figure 1 is missing.
Response: Thank you for your valuable guidance, this is my great negligence. We have now added Figure 1 in the appropriate section.
- L 36-36, Lactobacillus
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 42, what do you mean by the term ‘functional microbes’? is this a special group of microbes? L 281, please define what is ‘functional microorganisms’.
Response: In this study, ‘functional microbes’ refer to compounds that are highly related to the volatile aroma compounds of Hurood, which may contribute to the formation of aroma compounds. Here are a few published articles on the correlation between food flavor and microorganisms.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111167,
https://doi.org/10.11882/j.issn.0254-5071.2017.08.001,
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.960712
- L 65, were the cheeses stored at 20 C? for how long?
Response: The storage temperature of Hurood samples is -20℃, and the shelf life is about 180 days. The Hurood samples collected in the laboratory are used for experiments as quickly as possible.
- L 78, please add the name of the author just before the reference number.
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 133-135, to my opinion, this sentence is not needed and I suggest to be removed.
Response: Thank you for your valuable guidance, this is my great negligence. This section has been deleted.
- L 151, is reference No 20 that cited in L 151, Grosch et al 2010? Please check the numbering of references throughout.
Response: We have conducted a comprehensive review of the references in the entire text.
- L 204, is it overall sensory profile or aroma?
Response: Overall aroma characteristics.
- L 219, please use the reclassification of the genus Lactobacillus as suggested by Zheng et al 2020
Response: Thank you very much for your suggestion. We have carefully read the article you recommended. We have rechecked the names of microorganisms and classified them. These microorganisms in Hurood do not belong to the new 23 Lactobacillus genus.
- L 287, LAB instead of lactic acid bacteria
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 311, McSweeney
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 326, names of authors
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 333, names of authors
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
- L 385 Dairy
Response: Modified in the corresponding position in the text.
Reviewer 2 Report
This manuscript is related to the determination of the key aroma compounds in Hurood cheese (traditional in China) and their potential correlations with lactic acid bacteria. Different methods were used to perform this, including GC-MS, GC-O, ROAV for volatile compounds analysis while DNA sequencing was used to identify the dominant lactic acid species. The relations between them were evaluated by PCA and Pearson correlation analysis. This study provided interesting research and data, however, the results need to be better explained and supported by references. Besides, the conclusions need to be rewritten to better reflect the major achievements of this work. Also, in the conclusions section, the authors refer that this work was not finished which is a major drawback of the manuscript. The EN language and style should be improved. More details and comments related to this manuscript can be found in the attached PDF file.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
The EN language and style should be improved. Several examples were provided in the text.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors only addressed some of the comments performed by reviewers. In a work related to such a complex food matrix, like cheese, not referring to the possible synergistic effects of volatiles was a weakness.
EN language and style still need improvements.
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
We are very grateful for your comments on the manuscript. According to your advice, we tried our best to amend the relevant part. The question was answered below.
Should you have any questions, please contact us without hesitation.
Once again, thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.
Yours Sincerely,
Yadong
- In a work related to such a complex food matrix, like cheese, not referring to the possible synergistic effects of volatiles was a weakness.
Response: Thank you for your valuable guidance. The research purpose of this manuscript is to preliminarily analyze the volatile aroma quality of Hurood samples from different regions and to identify lactic acid bacteria related to the formation of aroma compounds. The synergistic effect between aroma compounds in Hurood is a highly worthy research topic, which can help us gain a deeper understanding of the complex aroma quality of Hurood. In the future, we will actively learn relevant knowledge to explore the synergistic effects between complex aroma compounds in Hurood.
