Supplementing diets of Awassi ewes with olive cake and tomato pomace: on-farm recovery of effects on yield, composition and fatty acid profile of the milk.

Two experiments were carried out in Syria with the purpose of investigating to which extent the effects of including 30% olive cake (replacing parts of forage and concentrate) or tomato pomace (replacing concentrate) in the diet, described under controlled on-station conditions, can be recovered on farm. A total of 180 lactating Awassi ewes (three farms per experiment, 15 ewes per treatment) were fed either control diets or test feed diets over a period of 7 weeks. Milk yield was measured bi-weekly and milk composition was analysed for gross physicochemical composition and fatty acid (FA) profile.

Influence of feeding Mediterranean food industry by-products and forages to Awassi sheep on physicochemical properties of milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Feeding agro-industrial by-products and unconventional forages, rich in potentially anti-nutritional factors, may influence the quality of the raw milk and the dairy products prepared therefrom. The aim of the present study was to determine side-effects on physicochemical properties of milk, yoghurt and cheese of feeding diets where one third were feeds either rich in lipids (tomato pomace and olive cake) or phenols (olive leaves and lentil straw) or electrolytes (Atriplex leaves). The diets, including a control diet, were designed to be isoenergetic and isonitrogenous.