Fatty acids composition of Colonnata Lard from two different swine breeds

The study compares the fatty acid composition of the Colonnata lard obtained from two different swine breeds, Large White (LW) and Cinta Senese (CS), during a one year long curing period. Samples of backfat were obtained from the carcass of three animals per breed and disposed into six different marble boxes according to the procedure of the disciplinary production of PGI "Lardo di Colonnata". During curing period individual lard samples were collected monthly from each marble box. The fatty acid composition of pig backfat reflected the differences in the dietary regimen and in the rearing system of the two breeds. LW swine, in fact, were fed a commercial concentrate and reared in an intensive system, whereas CS swine were fed a diet composed by a commercial concentrate supplemented with acorn and reared in an outdoor system. Lard from LW contained higher amount of saturated fatty acids than lard from CS, whereas the content of unsaturated fatty acids (mainly monounsaturated fatty acids) was lower. During the curing period the trend of lard fatty acids composition was different in the two breeds: the lard from CS seemed to be more susceptible to a faster hydrolysis of fatty acids than lard from LW, especially for the monounsaturated fatty acids, while the lard from LW seemed to be more susceptible to a faster hydrolysis of PUFA n-3

Inclusion of fresh forage in the ration for dairy cows: effects on CLA and trans C18:1 isomers content of milk fat

Milk fat is the richest natural source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers. The 9-cis, 11-trans CLA isomer (rumenic acid, RA) origins from two pathways: as an intermediate of the rumen biohydrogenation process of linoleic acid or as the product of the activity of mammary Stearoyl Co-A desaturase enzyme (SCD) with trans-11, C18:1 (vaccenic acid, VA) as the precursor, another intermediate in the biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acid

issues and perspectives in dairy sheep breeding

The present review consists of two parts. In the first part, the authors briefly describe the state of the art of breedingprogrammes for Italian dairy sheep; then they report new models for genetic evaluation and consider the problem ofgenotype x environment interaction and the impact of farming systems on the genetic merit of animals. In the secondpart new breeding goals regarding the evolution of milk quality concept and the increasing importance of functional traitsare reported. Regarding milk quality, the authors especially focus on the traits related to cheese-making ability and onthe nutraceutical aspects of milk. Among functional traits, resistance to diseases (mastitis and Scrapie) has been highlightedfor its great importance in livestock species. Finally, the perspectives of marker-assisted selection have also beenreported

Effect of forage/concentrate ratio and soybean oil supplementation on milk yield and quality from dairy goats

Dietary energy level is a limiting factor of milk production mainly in early lactation goats. Energy intake may be increased by incorporation of fat in ration. Currently, rumen protected fat is mainly adopted in goats nutrition, since the several studies have clearly confirmed that supplies of protected fat markedly improved the fat percentage of goat milk (Schmidely and Sauvant, 2001; Chilliard et al., 2003)

Comparison of fatty acid profile in lamb meat and baby food based on lamb meat

The aim of this study was to compare the fatty acid (FA) profile of fresh lamb meat with those of baby foods based on lamb meat. For this purpose, samples of commercial homogenized (HO) and lyophilized (LIO) baby food based on lamb meat and fresh lamb meat (FM) were analyzed for their FA composition. All fatty acids, except for oleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), differed among the three baby products tested. The sum of omega-6 FA and the ratio omega 6/omega 3 FA were lower in FM and LIO meat compared to HO samples. The content of total PUFA n-3 was the highest in FM, because of its highest content of C18:3 n3, EPA, DPA and DHA compared to LIO and HO baby food. The content of arachidonic acid was more than 6-fold higher in FM compared to LIO and HO. This study evidenced the possibility of enhancing the FA profile of commercial baby food based on lamb meat by using meat with healthier FA profile

Effect of soybean oil supplementation on milk fatty acid composition from Saanen goats fed diets with different forage:concentrate ratios

Twelve lactating Saanen goats were randomly assigned to four experimental diets, which differed in terms of forage:concentrate ratio and soybean oil supplementation. A 4×4 Latin square design was used. On a dry matter (DM) basis, forage:concentrate ratios were 63:37 ('high-forage' diet) and 35:65 ('low-forage' diet/high beet pulp). These diets were given either with oil (100 g·d-1) or without. The inclusion of soybean oil in the diet resulted in a significant increase in milk yield (but with HF diet) and in milk fat yield and concentration (P<0.05). Milk protein content remained unchanged across the diets. Milk protein yield was, however, higher for the high-forage diet containing added oil (forage × oil interaction, P<0.05). Soybean oil in the diet modified the milk fatty acid composition, reducing the levels of medium-chain and saturated fatty acids and increasing the levels of C18:2 n-6 and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). The addition of soybean oil to the diet resulted in a significant increase in rumenic acid (cis-9, trans-11 CLA) and vaccenic acid (trans-11 C18:1) content in the milk fat. Interactions between forage and oil resulted in a significant increase in rumenic acid and vaccenic acid in animals fed a high-forage plus oil diet, and in trans-10 C18:1 and trans-10, cis-12 CLA in animals fed a low-forage plus oil diet, probably due to a shift in the rumen's biohydrogenation of linoleic acid

Transcriptomic analysis of two sheep breeds during lactation, using a new custom microarray platform

Individual milk samples were weekly collected from 48 ewes during eight weeks. Ewes were at the second month of lactation and they were fed the same dietary regimen. The animals were grouped according to the amount of daily milk fat yield: A) 38-57g/d, B) 58-63g/d, C) 64-73g/d, D) 75-110g/d. Milk from group D showed a higher content of FA from C4 to C10 and a lower content of monounsaturated FA (MUFA) and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) than Group A (+12%, -11%, and -18%, for C4 to C10, MUFA and CLA, respectively), while Group B and C showed intermediate values. CLA content increased with days of lactation in a similar way for all groups. The mean correlation among all records within each individual lactation was 0.45 for CLA content. Six milk FA pair ratios representing a proxy for SCD activity were also evaluated: group A showed higher values of FA ratios than Group D (+26% on average for all FA pairs). In conclusion, increasing ability of daily milk fat yield was associated with lower milk content of MUFA and CLA and higher content of FA from C4 to C10

Whole extruded linseed in the diet of dairy ewes during early lactation: effect on the fatty acid composition of milk and cheese

In a long term supplementation trial (10 weeks), the effects of the inclusion of whole extruded linseed in the diet of dairy ewes on milk and cheese fatty acid composition were evaluated. Two groups of 24 Sarda ewes in early lactation were randomly assigned to control concentrate (800 g/d concentrate, C) or whole extruded linseed concentrate (L, 700 g/d, with 30% of extruded linseed, Omega-Lin®). Results showed that, after 2 weeks on the L diet, the milk content of unsaturated fatty acid (UFA), including rumenic acid (RA), vaccenic acid (VA) and alfa-linolenic acid (ALA) increased sharply compared to C group, reaching the highest levels after 7-8 weeks (3.06, 7.31 and 2.31 g/100 g milk fat for RA, VA and ALA, respectively). During the last 2 weeks of the experimental period, when pasture was included in the diet of both groups, the content of the above fatty acids slightly decreased in milk from L group, whereas in milk from C group increased. Nevertheless, the average content of these fatty acids in milk from L group remained significantly higher than that of milk from C group. Compared with the control, the L diet resulted in a significant reduction (-17%) in the concentration of saturated fatty acid in milk. The fatty acid content of the cheese obtained from milk of the two groups reflected the milk fatty acid composition. The inclusion of extruded linseed in the diet of dairy ewes improved the nutraceutical properties of milk and cheese, but further researches are needed in order to better understand the relationship between basal diet and lipid supplementation in dairy ewes