Characterization of the Detailed Fatty Acid Profiles of a Large Number of Types of Cheese from the Mountains and Plains.

The aim of this study was to characterize the highly detailed fatty acid (FA) profiles of 258 cheeses of 18 different categories of cheese collected in the mountains and on the plains of the Veneto region (Italy). The results clearly showed that, aside from the distinctive FA profiles of goat cheeses (more short-chain FAs and fewer MUFAs), the three categories of Formaggio di Malga (artisanal cheeses produced on temporary summer farms on Alpine pastures where transhumance is practiced) were very different from the other cheese categories in terms of their much higher CLA and omega-3 contents. Two categories of cheese from permanent farms in the mountains (Morlacco del Grappa and Monte Veronese PDO) were intermediate, and two other categories of cheeses originating in the mountains (Asiago PDO and Montasio PDO), but now produced mainly on the plains, were not distinguishable from the other cheese categories.

Detailed mineral profile of milk, whey, and cheese from cows, buffaloes, goats, ewes, and dromedary camels, and efficiency of recovery of minerals in their cheese.

Milk and dairy products are important in the human diet not only for the macronutrients, such as proteins and fats, that they provide, but also for the supply of essential micronutrients, such as minerals. Minerals are present in milk in soluble form in the aqueous phase and in colloidal form associated with the macronutrients of the milk. These 2 forms affect the nutritional functions of the minerals and their contribution to the technological properties of milk during cheese making.

Review of equations to predict methane emissions in dairy cows from milk fatty acid profiles and their application to commercial dairy farms.

Greenhouse gas emission from the activities of all productive sectors is currently a topic of foremost importance. The major contributors in the livestock sector are ruminants, especially dairy cows. This study aimed to evaluate and compare 21 equations for predicting enteric methane emissions (EME) developed on the basis of milk traits and fatty acid profiles, which were selected from 46 retrieved through a literature review.

Method to evaluate the microbial degradation activity in silage, cow rumen with test, and in manure and slurry.

Microorganisms are present everywhere and can influence a variety of processes. In agriculture and husbandry, the level of microbial activity can be crucial information, yet the methods for determining microbial activity are usually very long, complex, and costly. In this work, a novel and easy-to-use method, already in use for determining soil microbial activity, named Fertimetro was tested as a fast and cheap solution for measuring microbial activity in silages, in vitro rumen fluids, and manure and slurry.

Effect of intramammary infection and inflammation on milk protein profile assessed at the quarter level in Holstein cows.

In this study we wanted to investigate the associations between naturally occurring subclinical intramammary infection (IMI) caused by different etiological agents (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, and Prototheca spp.

Associations between subclinical intramammary infection and milk fatty acid profile at the quarter level in Holstein cattle.

Mastitis, especially the subclinical form, is the most common economic and health problem in dairy cows. Little is known about changes in milk fatty acid (FA) composition according to infection/inflammation status of the mammary gland. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between naturally occurring subclinical intramammary infection (IMI) from different pathogens, i.

Prediction of detailed blood metabolic profile using milk infrared spectra and machine learning methods in dairy cattle.

The adoption of preventive management decisions is crucial to dealing with metabolic impairments in dairy cattle. Various serum metabolites are known to be useful indicators of the health status of cows. In this study, we used milk Fourier-transform mid-infrared (FTIR) spectra and various machine learning (ML) algorithms to develop prediction equations for a panel of 29 blood metabolites, including those related to energy metabolism, liver function/hepatic damage, oxidative stress, inflammation/innate immunity, and minerals.

Predicting milk protein fractions using infrared spectroscopy and a gradient boosting machine for breeding purposes in Holstein cattle.

In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on the genetic evaluation of protein fractions in cow milk with the aim of improving milk quality and technological characteristics. In this context, advances in high-throughput phenotyping by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy offer the opportunity for large-scale, efficient measurement of novel traits that can be exploited in breeding programs as indicator traits. We took milk samples from 2,558 Holstein cows belonging to 38 herds in northern Italy, operating under different production systems.

Major Causes of Variation of External Appearance, Chemical Composition, Texture, and Color Traits of 37 Categories of Cheeses.

Cheeses are produced by many different procedures, giving rise to many types differing in ripening time, size, shape, chemical composition, color, texture, and sensory properties. As the first step in a large project, our aim was to characterize and quantify the major sources of variation in cheese characteristics by sampling 1050 different cheeses manufactured by over 100 producers and grouped into 37 categories (16 with protected designation of origin, 4 traditional cheese categories, 3 pasta filata cheese categories, 5 flavored cheese categories, 2 goat milk categories, and 7 other categories ranging from very fresh to very hard cheeses). We obtained 17 traits from each cheese (shape, height, diameter, weight, moisture, fat, protein, water soluble nitrogen, ash, pH, 5 color traits, firmness, and adhesiveness).

Bibliometric Review on the Volatile Organic Compounds in Meat.

Meat flavor is an important aspect of meat quality that also influences consumer demand, and is therefore very important for the meat industry. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute in large part to the flavor of meat, and while increasing numbers of articles are published on this topic, reviews of these articles are very scarce. Therefore, our aim was to perform a bibliometric analysis of the scientific publications on VOCs in meat over the period 2000-2020.

Milk metagenomics and cheese-making properties as affected by indoor farming and summer highland grazing.

The study of the complex relationships between milk metagenomics and milk composition and cheese-making efficiency as affected by indoor farming and summer highland grazing was the aim of the present work. The experimental design considered monthly sampling (over 5 mo) of the milk produced by 12 Brown Swiss cows divided into 2 groups: the first remained on a lowland indoor farm from June to October, and the second was moved to highland pastures in July and then returned to the lowland farm in September. The resulting 60 milk samples (2 kg each) were used to analyze milk composition, milk coagulation, curd firming, and syneresis processes, and to make individual model cheeses to measure cheese yields and nutrient recoveries in the cheese.

Impact of somatic cell count combined with differential somatic cell count on milk protein fractions in Holstein cattle.

Udder health in dairy herds is a very important issue given its implications for animal welfare and the production of high-quality milk. Somatic cell count (SCC) is the most widely used means of assessing udder health status. However, differential somatic cell count (DSCC) has recently been proposed as a new and more effective means of evaluating intramammary infection dynamics.

In-line near-infrared analysis of milk coupled with machine learning methods for the daily prediction of blood metabolic profile in dairy cattle.

Precision livestock farming technologies are used to monitor animal health and welfare parameters continuously and in real time in order to optimize nutrition and productivity and to detect health issues at an early stage. The possibility of predicting blood metabolites from milk samples obtained during routine milking by means of infrared spectroscopy has become increasingly attractive. We developed, for the first time, prediction equations for a set of blood metabolites using diverse machine learning methods and milk near-infrared spectra collected by the AfiLab instrument.

Associations between Milk Fatty Acid Profile and Body Condition Score, Ultrasound Hepatic Measurements and Blood Metabolites in Holstein Cows.

Dairy cows have high incidences of metabolic disturbances, which often lead to disease, having a subsequent significant impact on productivity and reproductive performance. As the milk fatty acid (FA) profile represents a fingerprint of the cow's nutritional and metabolic status, it could be a suitable indicator of metabolic status at the cow level. In this study, we obtained milk FA profile and a set of metabolic indicators (body condition score, ultrasound liver measurements, and 29 hematochemical parameters) from 297 Holstein-Friesian cows.

Technical note: Design, development and validation of an automated gas monitoring equipment for measurement of the dynamics of microbial fermentation.

The present technical note describes design, development and validation of an automated equipment for measurement of kinetics of gas production during fermentation in glass bottles. The overall repeatability and precision of the developed system was evaluated and compared with the manual gas measurement technique in respect to characterization of the fermentation kinetics of ruminant livestock feeds. Two incubations were carried out, during which the GP of six different feeds was measured with the automated system or manual technique.

Bentonite does not affect in vitro ruminal gross fermentations but could modify ruminal metabolome and mineral content. A proof of concept.

Clay minerals, such as bentonite, are used as feed additives capable of adsorbing mycotoxins and heavy metals and have been related to many positive effects on animal health and productivity. However, these compounds seem to induce also side effects and to interact with the intestinal and ruminal microbiota. The present in vitro study is aimed at evaluating the effects of different doses of bentonite on ruminal fermentations, metabolome and mineral content.

Composition and aptitude for cheese-making of milk from cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, dromedary camels, and donkeys.

Bovines produce about 83% of the milk and dairy products consumed by humans worldwide, the rest represented by bubaline, caprine, ovine, camelid, and equine species, which are particularly important in areas of extensive pastoralism. Although milk is increasingly used for cheese production, the cheese-making efficiency of milk from the different species is not well known. This study compares the cheese-making ability of milk sampled from lactating females of the 6 dairy species in terms of milk composition, coagulation properties (using lactodynamography), curd-firming modeling, nutrients recovered in the curd, and cheese yield (through laboratory model-cheese production).

Effects of breed, farm intensiveness, and cow productivity level on cheese-making ability predicted using infrared spectral data at the population level.

Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra collected during milk recording schemes at population level can be used for predicting novel traits of interest for farm management, cows' genetic improvement, and milk payment systems. The aims of this study were as follows. (1) To predict cheese yield traits using FTIR spectra from routine milk recordings exploiting previously developed calibration equations.

Associations between ultrasound measurements and hematochemical parameters for the assessment of liver metabolic status in Holstein-Friesian cows.

Metabolic disorders, including hepatic lipidosis and ketosis, severely affect animal health status and welfare with a large economic burden in dairy herds. The gold standard for diagnosing hepatic lipidosis is the liver biopsy, which is impractical and invasive for the screening at farm level. Ultrasound (US) imaging is a promising technique for identifying liver dysfunction, but standardized specifications in physiological conditions are needed.

Genetic parameters of differential somatic cell count, milk composition, and cheese-making traits measured and predicted using spectral data in Holstein cows.

Mastitis is one of the most prevalent diseases in dairy cattle and is the cause of considerable economic losses. Alongside somatic cell count (SCC), differential somatic cell count (DSCC) has been recently introduced as a new indicator of intramammary infection. The DSCC is expressed as a count or a proportion (%) of polymorphonuclear neutrophils plus lymphocytes (PMN-LYM) in milk somatic cells.

Associations between differential somatic cell count and milk yield, quality, and technological characteristics in Holstein cows.

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between differential somatic cell count (DSCC) and milk quality and udder health traits, and for the first time, between DSCC and milk coagulation properties and cheesemaking traits in a population of 1,264 Holstein cows reared in northern Italy. Differential somatic cell count represents the combined proportions of polymorphonuclear neutrophils plus lymphocytes (PMN-LYM) in the total somatic cell count (SCC), with macrophages (MAC) making up the remaining proportion. The milk traits investigated in this study were milk yield (MY), 8 traits related to milk composition and quality (fat, protein, casein, casein index, lactose, urea, pH, and milk conductivity), 9 milk coagulation traits [3 milk coagulation properties (MCP) and 6 curd firming (CF) traits], 7 cheesemaking traits, 3 cheese yield (CY) traits, and 4 milk nutrient recovery in the curd (REC) traits.

Free and Microencapsulated Essential Oils Incubated In Vitro: Ruminal Stability and Fermentation Parameters.

Essential oils (EOs) are generally considered as an alternative to antibiotics because of their antimicrobial properties. Despite their vast variety, their volatile nature poses hindrance on their use in animal feeds, which demands a high degree of stability. This study aimed at testing the susceptibility of three EOs (mixtures of EOs based on cinnamaldehyde, named Olistat-Cyn, Olistat-G, and Olistat-P) in two forms (free: fEOs; and microencapsulated: mEOs) to in vitro ruminal degradation using the Ankom Daisy technique.

Short communication: Dietary protein restriction and conjugated linoleic acid supplementation in dairy cows affect milk composition, the cheese-making process, and cheese quality.

We used 20 mid-lactating Holstein cows, housed in 4 pens according to a Latin square design, to evaluate the effects of dietary protein restriction (crude protein: 12.3 vs. 15.

Shift in the cow milk microbiota during alpine pasture as analyzed by culture dependent and high-throughput sequencing techniques.

In the present study, two groups of cows from a permanent lowland farm (PF) were divided during summer and reared in the PF or in a temporary alpine farm (ALP), respectively. Microbiological analyses were performed with the objective to investigate the microbial evolution of milk before, during, and after summer transhumance comparing, in particular, the two groups of cows to determine whether the alpine pasture could directly influence the milk microbiota. A significant increase of all microbial groups was registered in milk samples collected in the ALP.