Chemical characterization of secondary metabolite formation from fungi on cheese

Fungal cheese starter cultures such as Penicillium roqueforti, P. camemberti and contaminants like P. commune produce several previously not described secondary metabolites. These can be: 1) compounds causing discoloration of cheese; 2) comounds of importance for the chemical interaction between different starter organisms and 3) aroma compounds. In this project methods for purification of such compounds will be developed. The exact chemical structure of such compounds will be interpretated using modern nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (NMR). Knowledge of the chemical structure of a new compound makes it possible to suggest which precursors the compound is biosynthesized from and thereby makes it possible to suggest which precursors the compound is biosynthesized from and thereby also how the microbial production of the compound can be affected. Finally the pure compounds will be investigated for their chemical and biological characteristica.