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Compositions of milk12/29/2023 ![]() There is also a strong relationship between sheep nutrition and milk quality which is mainly identifiable in its technological and coagulation properties. Specifically, in summer, low milk production and low milk technological quality have a repercussion on cheese yields, on the efficiency of cheese dairy industries and on the market sector, with a reduction in cash flow and lack of fresh (not ripened) dairy products. This production system, characterized by variations in the technological characteristics of milk, has important implications for the dairy industry. Milk production and cheese making are therefore done during the winter- spring period. Indeed, on average, in the traditional systems, the milk produced in the summer often is produced by ewes at the end of lactation, fed on stubble and with insufficient supplements, and exposed to heat stress. Several variables (e.g., stage of lactation, diet, temperature and season) contribute to this trend. In Sardinia, 75% of the sheep milk is produced between January and May. The lactation curve is characterized by a maximum peak in the spring season, in correspondence of the maximum availability of grass, followed by a gradual decrease of milk yield until the summer season when the ewes dry-off. This fact is related to the seasonality of the Sardinian ovine breeding system, with the lactation curve of sheep that follows the evolutionary curve of grazing. However, the cheese production is characterized by a great discontinuity due to the low milk production and often low milk technological quality during summer time. Sardinia boasts a wide range of high quality ripened sheep cheese, namely Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo and Fiore Sardo, recognized with the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) under the European law. Approximately the 90% of this milk is processed into different types of cheese. Sardinia (Italy) is one of the dominant European regions for sheep dairy production with more than 3.5 million sheep (3.7% of the EU total in 2009) which produce more than 300,000 MT of milk corresponding to about 4% of total world production. Nowadays, ovine dairy products have gained market size due to the product’s quality, high yield, and nutritional value. Ovine milk can be used to produce different cheese varieties, yogurt, and ricotta containing prebiotic ingredients and/or probiotic bacteria, which are the major categories in the functional food market. Sheep milk is known to have high concentrations of proteins, fat, minerals, and vitamins, and thus a high nutritional value when compared to milks of other domestic species. Differences can be attributed to traditional system of breeding. Based on a big data set, results highlighted the main differences in bulk milk composition, over a long period of the year. NaCl content compensated the lower levels of lactose in the summer season. Somatic cell levels were found not correlated with the bacterial count, and their trend suggests a dependence to milk dilution. Rumenic acid, trans-vaccenic acid and linolenic acid decreased in late spring-summer (May-July). Milk urea showed higher levels in winter-spring (January-April). An increase of proteins and fat was observed in summer, accompanied by a decrease of proteins/fat ratio. Milk main traits, physical-chemical parameters, and fatty acid composition were measured, and data analyzed by descriptive statistics, mean comparison test and multivariate statistical analysis. The composition of more than 126000 samples of bulk milk from grazing Sarda breed sheep, bred in Sardinia (Italy), collected in 2017 from January to July was studied. This research paper is aimed to study the changes of ovine milk composition in different months of the year. In the Mediterranean area, the seasonality of sheep milk production and quality heavily affects the dairy industry profitability.
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