"Cowy" butter. Frequently there is to be noted in milk a peculiar odor that resembles that of the cow stable. Usually this defect in milk has been ascribed to the absorption of impure gases by the milk as it cools, although the gases and odors naturally present in fresh milk have this peculiar property that is demonstrable by certain methods of aeration. Occasionally it is transmitted to butter, and recently Pammel[174] has isolated from butter a bacillus that produced in milk the same peculiar odor so commonly present in stables.
Lardy and tallowy butter. The presence of this unpleasant taste in butter may be due to a variety of causes. In some instances, improper food seems to be the source of the trouble; then again, butter exposed to direct sunlight bleaches in color and develops a lardy flavor.[175] In addition to these, cases have been found in which the defect has been traced to the action of bacteria. Storch[176] has described a lactic-acid form in a sample of tallowy butter that was able to produce this disagreeable odor.
Oily butter. Jensen has isolated one of the causes of the dreaded oily butter that is reported quite frequently in Denmark. The specific organism that he found belongs to the sour-milk bacteria. In twenty-four hours it curdles milk, the curd being solid like that of ordinary sour milk. There is produced, however, in addition to this, an unpleasant odor and taste resembling that of machine oil, a peculiarity that is transmitted directly to butter made from affected cream.
Bitter butter. Now and then butter develops a bitter taste that may be due to a variety of different bacterial forms. In most cases, the bitter flavor in the butter is derived primarily from the bacteria present in the cream or milk. Several of the fermentations of this character in milk are also to be found in butter. In addition to these defects produced by a biological cause, bitter flavors in butter are sometimes produced by the milk being impregnated with volatile, bitter substances derived from weeds.
Moldy butter. This defect is perhaps the most serious because most common. It is produced by the development of a number of different varieties of molds. The trouble appears most frequently in packed butter on the outside of the mass of butter in contact with the tub. Mold spores are so widely disseminated that if proper conditions are given for their germination, they are almost sure to develop. In some cases the mold is due to the growth of the ordinary bread mold, Penicillium glaucum; in other cases a black mold develops, due often to Cladosporium butyri. Not infrequently trouble of this character is associated with the use of parchment wrappers. The difficulty can easily be held in check by soaking the parchment linings and the tubs in a strong brine, or paraffining the inside of the tub.
Fishy butter. Considerable trouble has been experienced in Australian butter exported to Europe in which a fishy flavor developed. It was noted that the production of this defect seemed to be dependent upon the storage temperature at which the butter was kept. When the butter was refrigerated at 15° F. no further difficulty was experienced. It is claimed that the cause of this condition is due to the formation of trimethylamine (herring brine odor) due to the growth of the mold fungus Oidium lactis, developing in combination with the lactic-acid bacteria.
A fishy taste is sometimes noted in canned butter. Rogers[177] has determined that this flavor is caused by yeasts (Torula) which produce fat-splitting enzyms capable of producing this undesirable change.
FOOTNOTES:
[153] Conn and Esten, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 1901, 7:746.
[154] Tiemann, Milch Zeit., 23:701.