Comparative effects of organic, traditional, and intensive production with probiotics on the fatty acid profile of cow’s milk

Production, Composition and Nutritional Properties of Organic Milk: A Critical Review

Milk is one of the most valuable products in the food industry with most milk production throughout the world being carried out using conventional management, which includes intensive and traditional systems. The intensive use of fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides and concerns regarding animal health and the environment have given increasing importance to organic dairy and dairy products in the last two decades. This review aims to compare the production, nutritional, and compositional properties of milk produced by conventional and organic dairy management systems. We also shed light on the health benefits of milk and the worldwide scenario of the organic dairy production system. Most reports suggest milk has beneficial health effects with very few, if any, adverse effects reported. Organic milk is reported to confer additional benefits due to its lower omega-6-omega-3 ratio, which is due to the difference in feeding practices, with organic cows predominantly pasture fed. Despite the testified animal, host, and environmental benefits, organic milk production is difficult in several regions due to the cost-intensive process and geographical conditions. Finally, we offer perspectives for a better future and highlight knowledge gaps in the organic dairy management system.

Potential associations between organic dairy products, gut microbiome, and gut health: A review

Organic products have received longstanding, widespread attention for their nutritional and ecological benefits, as they are said to have certain positive health attributes and contain fewer harmful compounds than conventional (or non-organic) products. We reviewed the recent literature to examine potential associations between nutrient composition, gut microbiota, and gut health effects in recent comparative studies of organic and conventional dairy products. Trends of increased ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and unsaturated to saturated fat, increased fat-soluble vitamin content, and decreased levels of certain pernicious contaminants in organic milk were observed across the studies reviewed. Studies of the metabolism of these nutrients in both in vitro and in vivo settings, and their or their metabolites' interaction with the intestinal epithelium show that nutrients enriched in organic dairy products may support host nutrient uptake and mediate gut inflammation. Research on the effects of single food products or classes of food products on gut health is rare. The extent of these benefits is highly likely to be mediated by both the magnitude of the difference in nutrient types and quantities, and by dietary intake levels of dairy products. Intervention studies directly examining the different effects of organic and conventional dairy products on gut health in humans are needed to further elucidate this relationship.

Probiotic microorganisms and herbs in ruminant nutrition as natural modulators of health and production efficiency – a review

Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, direct-fed microbials, and herbs may improve the production efficiency in ruminants. The beneficial effect of selected specific microbes on animal health is reflected in protection against pathogens, stimulation of immunological response, increased production capacity, and mitigation of stress effects. Phytobiotic plants used in the nutrition of ruminant animals increase feed palatability. This in turn has a positive effect on feed intake and, consequently, increases production performance. Pectins, terpenes, phenols, saponins, and antibioticlike substances contained in phytobiotics prevent irritation, diarrhea, and increase the activity of digestive enzymes. Thanks to the abundance of biologically active substances such as flavonoids, glycosides, coumarins, carotenoids, polyphenols, etc., phytobiotics exhibit immunostimulatory and antioxidant properties as well. Given such a wide range of effects on health status and production parameters in animals, an attempt was made in this review to compile the current knowledge on the possible application of these natural growth stimulants in ruminant nutrition and to demonstrate their potential benefits and/or risks for breeding these animals.

Analysis of oxylipins to differentiate between organic and conventional UHT milks

Nowadays, there is a strong interest in analytical approaches for assessing organic farming practices. Here, we propose that oxylipins, a group of oxidised metabolites derived from various polyunsaturated fatty acids, could be promising biomarkers for organic milk assessment because their biosynthesis is modulated by both precursor fatty acid availability and physiological or pathological status. Thus, we determined 31 fatty acids, 53 triacylglycerols and 37 oxylipins in one hundred commercial UHT milks by chromatographic methods coupled to mass spectrometry. Of these, 52 milks were conventional (34 whole milk, 11 semi-skimmed milk and 7 skimmed milk) and 48 were organic (31 whole milk, 11 semi-skimmed milk and 6 skimmed milk). Several oxylipins (8-HEPE, 5-HEPE, 11-HEPE, 9-HEPE, 18-HEPE, 9-HOTrE, 13-HOTrE, 12,13-DiHODE and 15,16-DiHODE) could distinguish between organic and conventional milks. Within these oxylipins, arachidonic and linoleic acid derived do not correlate with their fatty acid precursors; therefore these oxylipins could be promising as not only diet-dependent biomarkers for organic milk assessment.

Benefits and Inputs From Lactic Acid Bacteria and Their Bacteriocins as Alternatives to Antibiotic Growth Promoters During Food-Animal Production

Resistance to antibiotics is escalating and threatening humans and animals worldwide. Different countries have legislated or promoted the ban of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock and aquaculture to reduce this phenomenon. Therefore, to improve animal growth and reproduction performance and to control multiple bacterial infections, there is a potential to use probiotics as non-antibiotic growth promoters. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) offer various advantages as potential probiotics and can be considered as alternatives to antibiotics during food-animal production. LAB are safe microorganisms with abilities to produce different inhibitory compounds such as bacteriocins, organic acids as lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, diacetyl, and carbon dioxide. LAB can inhibit harmful microorganisms with their arsenal, or through competitive exclusion mechanism based on competition for binding sites and nutrients. LAB endowed with specific enzymatic functions (amylase, protease…) can improve nutrients acquisition as well as animal immune system stimulation. This review aimed at underlining the benefits and inputs from LAB as potential alternatives to antibiotics in poultry, pigs, ruminants, and aquaculture production.

Role of Fatty Acids in Milk Fat and the Influence of Selected Factors on Their Variability-A Review

Fatty acids (FAs) of milk fat are considered to be important nutritional components of the diets of a significant portion of the human population and substantially affect human health. With regard to dairy farming, the FA profile is also seen as an important factor in the technological quality of raw milk. In this sense, making targeted modifications to the FA profile has the potential to significantly contribute to the production of dairy products with higher added value. Thus, FAs also have economic importance. Current developments in analytical methods and their increasing efficiency enable the study of FA profiles not only for scientific purposes but also in terms of practical technological applications. It is important to study the sources of variability of FAs in milk, which include population genetics, type of farming, and targeted animal nutrition. It is equally important to study the health and technological impacts of FAs. This review summarizes current knowledge in the field regarding sources of FA variability, including the impact of factors such as: animal nutrition, seasonal feed changes, type of animal farming (conventional and organic), genetic parameters (influence of breed), animal individuality, lactation, and milk yield. Potential practical applications (to improve food technology and consumer health) of FA profile information are also reviewed.

Blood hormones, metabolic parameters and fatty acid proportion in dairy cows fed condensed tannins and oils blend

The aim of this study was to track the changes in blood parameters of mid-lactation multiparous Polish Holstein-Friesian cows in response to a diet supplemented with a mixture of fish-soybean oils blend and tannin-containing lingonberry shrub (Vaccinium vitis idaea; VVI) extract. Twelve lactating cows were randomly assigned to a crossover design of two treatments (6 cows per treatment) which consisted of a control diet containing no supplement (CON) and CON supplemented with a mixture of 99 g of VVI leaves extract and 660 g of blended fish-soybean oils (MIX) daily. The obtained results showed a significant increase in plasma glucose level, as well as C18:1t11 and n-3 fatty acids proportion. A significant decrease was also observed in insulin concentration, triglyceride and C18:0 proportion. Generally, the saturated fatty acid proportion decreased while the unsaturated fatty acid significantly increased with the MIX diet. In conclusion, using supplements of a mixture of VVI extract and fish-soybean oils blend modulated the unsaturated fatty acid proportion in blood, without affecting the dairy cows’ blood parameters which were all within the normal ranges.