Goat and sheep milk products in the United States (USA)

Fortification of goat milk yogurts with date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) coproducts: Impact on their quality during cold storage

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of different concentrations (3% and 6%) of two ingredients (paste and flour) obtained from the valorization of date fruit coproducts on the nutritional (proximate composition and mineral profile), technological (coagulation curve, pH, acidity, sugar and organic acid content and syneresis), physicochemical (color, water activity and texture), microbiological and sensory properties of goat's yogurt during 21 days of refrigerated storage. Both ingredients enhanced the growth and stability of the yogurt starter culture, thereby improving the probiotic potential of date-added yogurts. Physicochemically, the addition of date flour (at both concentrations) induces stronger modifications (texture, color and syneresis) in yogurts than the date paste. During storage, date paste reduced the syneresis and hence maintained yogurts' physical quality. Consumers preferred the yogurts with date paste (3% and 6%) rather than with date flour, because its addition led to a more brownish color and granular texture.

Cocoa byproduct inclusion in dairy sheep diet: Effects on sensory, volatile, and antioxidant properties of cheese

The possibility of inclusion of agro-industrial byproducts in the diet of small ruminants represents both an economic and an environmental strategy for reducing waste management by industries and costs of feeding as well as the impact of livestock farming. Large amounts of wastes from the cocoa industry are produced annually, with a considerable part represented by cocoa bean shells, considered a suitable ingredient to be included in the diet of ruminants within the limits established by European legislation. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of including cocoa bean shells in the diet of dairy sheep on the sensory, volatile, and antioxidant properties of cheese. To this purpose, 20 lactating Comisana ewes were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups: control (CTRL) and cocoa bean shells (CBS), and received alfalfa hay ad libitum and 800 g of conventional (CTRL) or experimental (CBS) concentrate containing 11.7% CBS to partially replace corn and barley of the CTRL concentrate. Bulk milk collected from each group was used to produce a total of 15 cheeses per group, obtained in 5 different days of cheesemaking (3 cheeses a day per group). After 60 d of aging, each cheese of each experimental group was sampled for the analyses. The results on chemical composition revealed a greater content of monounsaturated fatty acids and an increase in the nutritional indices, suggesting a favorable role of cocoa bean shell dietary inclusion on the nutritive value of cheese. The cheese sensory profile was affected by the cocoa bean shell inclusion, with more pronounced appearance, odor, aroma, and taste attributes in the product. The volatile profile showed only a few significant differences, mainly related to the cheese ripening process, and no differences were found in α-tocopherol contents in cheese fat between the 2 groups. Therefore, the inclusion of coca bean shells in the diet of dairy sheep allowed us to obtain a good-quality cheese, without altering the characteristics associated with the typical profiles of sheep cheese. Furthermore, the use of this byproduct could contribute to decreasing feed costs and waste management, representing a good practice for increasing the sustainability of dairy products.

Biologically Active Sheep Colostrum for Topical Treatment and Skin Care

Colostrum is gaining popularity in cosmetic products. The present study compared the composition and selected biological properties of colostrum from Polish sheep (colostrum 1) and Swiss sheep (colostrum 2), particularly those that can affect healthy or diseased skin. The antioxidant activity of the colostrums was measured using ABTS and DPPH assays. The effect on the proliferation of human skin fibroblasts, neonatal epidermal keratinocytes, and human diabetic fibroblast (dHF) cells isolated from diabetic foot ulcers was also assayed in vitro by MTT and Presto Blue tests, respectively. The colostrum simulated dHF cell proliferation by up to 115.4%. The highest used concentration of colostrum 1 stimulated normal fibroblast proliferation by 191.2% (24 h) and 222.2% (48 h). Both colostrums inhibited epidermal keratinocyte viability. The influence of the colostrums on the expression of genes related to proliferation (Ki67) and immune response (IL-6, PTGS-2, TSG-6) in dHF cells were compared. Colostrum 1 increased the rate of wound closure (scar test). Analysis of total fat, protein and fatty acid content found the Polish colostrum to be a richer source of fat than the Swiss colostrum, which contained a larger amount of protein. Both colostrums exhibit properties that suggest they could be effective components in cosmetic or medicinal formulations for skin care, especially supporting its regeneration, rejuvenation, and wound healing.

Antimicrobial Effects of Plant-Based Supplements on Gut Microbial Diversity in Small Ruminants

Every year in the United States, approximately 48 million people are affected by bacterial illnesses that are transmitted through food, leading to 3000 fatalities. These illnesses typically stem from food animals and their by-products, which may harbor dangerous pathogens like Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Campylobacter jejuni. Factors that contribute to contamination include manure used as a soil amendment, exposure to polluted irrigation water, and contact with animals. To improve food safety, researchers are studying pre-slaughter intervention methods to eliminate bacterial contamination in live animals. While small ruminants are vital to global agriculture and income generation for small farms, traditional feeding practices involve supplements and antibiotics to boost performance, which contributes to antibiotic resistance. Hence, researchers are looking for friendly bacterial strains that enhance both animal and human health without impacting livestock productivity. The global trend is to minimize the use of antibiotics as feed supplements, with many countries prohibiting or limiting their use. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive insight on the antioxidant capabilities, therapeutic attributes, and applications of bioactive compounds derived from sweet potato tops (SPTs), rice bran (RB) and radish tops (RTs). This overview provides an insight on plant parts that are abundant in antioxidant and prebiotic effects and could be used as value-added products in animal feed and pharmaceutical applications. This review was based on previous findings that supplementation of basal diets with natural supplements represents a multifaceted intervention that will become highly important over time. By remarkably reducing the burden of foodborne pathogens, they apply to multiple species, are cheap, do not require withdrawal periods, and can be applied at any time in food animal production.

Sustainable Approaches in Whey Cheese Production: A Review

Whey cheeses have been produced from the very early steps of cheesemaking practices as a sustainable way to utilize whey, which is the main by-product of cheesemaking. Traditional whey cheeses, manufactured with similar processes, are Ricotta, Ricotta salata or Ricottone, and Ricotta fresca in Italy; Anthotyros, Myzithra, Manouri, Xynomyzithra, and Urda in Greece; Urda in Serbia and Romania as well as in other countries such as Israel; Lor in Turkey; Anari in Cyprus; Skuta in Croatia and Serbia; Gjetost and Brunost in Norway; Mesost and Messmör in Sweden; Mysuostur in Iceland; Myseost in Denmark; Requeijão in Portugal; and Requesón in Spain and Mexico. The production of whey cheese is based on the denaturation of whey proteins by heating to 88–92 °C. The specific processing conditions and aspects of the microbiology of whey cheeses are discussed. The special characteristics of whey cheeses, which are high pH and high moisture content, make them susceptible to microbial growth. Due to the limited shelf life of these products, extended research has been carried out to extend the shelf life of whey cheese. The sustainable preservation approaches, such as modified atmosphere packaging, addition of herbs and/or plant extracts, and bio-preservation methods are reviewed. Moreover, novel whey cheeses focused on functional properties have developed during the last 10 years.

Messenger RNA Gene Expression Screening of VIP and PACAP Neuropeptides and Their Endogenous Receptors in Ruminants

Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) and Pituitary Adenylate-Cyclase-Activating Peptide (PACAP) are anti-inflammatory neuropeptides that play important roles in human and rodent gut microbiota homeostasis and host immunity. Pharmacologically regulating these neuropeptides is expected to have significant health and feed efficiency benefits for agriculturally relevant animals. However, their expression profile in ruminant tissues is not well characterized. To this end, we screened for VIP and PACAP neuropeptides and their endogenous GPCRs using 15 different tissues from wethers and steers by RT-qPCR. Our results revealed relatively similar expression profiles for both VIP and PACAP neuropeptide ligands in the brain and intestinal tissue of both species. In contrast, the tissue expression profiles for VPAC1, VPAC2, and PAC1 were more widespread and disparate, with VPAC1 being the most diversely expressed receptor with mRNA detection in the brain and throughout the gastrointestinal tract. These data are an important first step to allow for future investigations regarding the VIP and PACAP signaling pathways in livestock ruminant species.

In silico identification of antidiabetic and hypotensive potential bioactive peptides from the sheep milk proteins-a molecular docking study

An in silico approach was used for hydrolysis of sheep milk proteins (α-s1, α-s2, β-casein, κ-Cn, α-lactalbumin, and β-lactoglobulin) by gastrointestinal enzymes in order to generate bioactive peptides (BAPs) that can inhibit ACE and DPP-IV. Sheep milk proteins showed higher similarity with goat milk proteins. These data were acquired via the Clustal Omega tool to perform sequence alignment analysis. The BIOPEP-UWM database was used to examine the ability of sheep milk protein sequences to generate BAPs, which included a description of their potential bioactivity as well as the frequency of fragments with specified activities. Using the "Enzyme(s) action" tool (BIOPEP-UWM), digestive enzymes pepsin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin, and three enzyme combinations were selected to computationally hydrolyze milk proteins for obtaining information about ACE and DPP-IV inhibitory peptides. Other online programs were used to test potential peptides for bioactivity, toxicity, and physicochemical properties. BAPs produced from PTC-hydrolyzed proteins were analyzed using a peptide ranker, and their inhibitory effects on ACE and DPP-IV were determined using molecular docking. Consequently, the results of molecular docking analysis show that the peptide PSGAW (αS1-Cn f155-159) binds to DPP-IV with binding energy (-8.9 kcal/mol). But in the case of ACE, two potential BAPs were selected: QPPQPL (β-Cn f161-166) and PSGAW. These two BAPs revealed a higher binding affinity for ACE with a binding energy of -9.8 kcal/mol. Thus, the results showed that sheep milk proteins were a promising source of antidiabetic and hypotensive peptides. However, experimental and pre-clinical studies are necessary to assay their therapeutic effects. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Sheep milk proteins are known as a high-quality milk protein resource. Effective enzymatic hydrolysis of sheep milk proteins can release bioactive peptides and also release potential ACE and DPP-IV inhibitory peptides. This in silico study specifies a theoretical root for sheep milk proteins as a novel source of potential bioactive peptides and may offer guidance for invitro hydrolysis of proteins for the production of bioactive peptides valuable for human consumption.

Influence of the Ratio of Sheep and Cow Milk on the Composition and Yield Efficiency of Lećevački Cheese

Lećevački cheese is a traditional Croatian hard cheese, which belongs to the group of hard Mediterranean cheeses produced from mixed milk (cow and sheep). The aim of this research was to determine the influence of different ratios and compositions of sheep milk on the composition and yield of Lećevački cheese. A total of 15 batches of Lećevački cheese were selected containing different ratios of sheep and cow milk from the regular production of a dairy plant. The ratio of sheep milk was as follows: up to 39%, from 40 to 44%, and from 45 to 50%. For each ratio, five batches were randomly selected. A higher ratio of sheep milk caused a noticeable increase in fat, protein, lactose, and total solids content, while the content of solids-not-fat significantly (p < 0.05) increased. A similar trend was found for casein content (p < 0.1). The highest ratio of sheep milk in mixed milk increased (p < 0.05) the protein content by almost 1%. However, the results showed that it is not reasonable to increase the sheep milk ratio in mixed milk above 44% (v/v) because it causes a higher (p < 0.01) moisture content in the cheese, as well as a lower fat content (p < 0.01) and fat recovery (p = 0.07) during the manufacturing of Lećevački cheese.

Effect of frozen storage on some characteristics of kefir samples made from cow's and goat's milk

This study was aimed to determine the changes in kefir samples (CK and GK) made from cow's and goat's milk during frozen storage. The CK and GK samples were first stored at +4 °C for 14 and 21 days. Thereafter, all the samples were frozen at -35 °C for 24 h and kept at -18 °C for 45 days. There was no significant change in the fat, protein, acidity and pH values in both samples during the storage. The values of viscosity, WI and C* were higher in the CK samples while the syneresis value was higher in the GK samples throughout the frozen storage. The microorganisms (Lactococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Leuconostoc spp., total mesophilic aerobic bacteria and yeasts) found in kefir made from goat's milk were more affected from the frozen storage. In both samples, the changes in organic acids and volatile flavor components were not significant during frozen storage, except acetic, citric and oxalic acids and acetaldehyde in GK sample. In addition, CK samples were preferred sensorially more by the panellists during frozen storage.

The Differential Composition of Whey Proteomes in Hu Sheep Colostrum and Milk during Different Lactation Periods

Colostrum and milk proteins are essential resources for the growth and development of the newborns, while their kinds and amounts vary greatly during the lactation period. This study was conducted to better understand whey proteome and its changes at six lactation time points (0 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 28 d, and 56 d after lambing) in Hu sheep. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF/TOF MS) technologies, a total of 52 differentially expressed protein spots (DEPS), corresponding to 25 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), were obtained. The protein spots abundance analysis revealed that the proteins are the most abundant at 0 d after lambing. Gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were used to explore the biological functions of the DEPs. The biological process was mainly involved in localization, the single-organism process, the cellular process, and a series of immune processes. The cellular components engaged in the extracellular region were the cell, organelle, and membrane. The most prevalent molecular function was binding activity. In addition, the DEPs were involved in nine significant pathways, including the Hippo signaling pathway and Complement and coagulation cascades. These results intuitively presented the changes in Hu sheep whey proteins during a 56-d lactation period, and revealed potential biological functions of the DEPs, providing a scientific basis for early weaning.

Short-Term Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Spanish Small Ruminant Flocks

Simple Summary

The human pandemic COVID-19 has rapidly spread around the world, leading to extreme control measures such as population confinement and industries activity closure, including tourism and restauration. Although small ruminants are not sanitary affected, this situation might cause a negative economic impact on Spanish flocks. The data analyses provided by producers and slaughterhouses in the initial 60 days after COVID-19’s pandemic declaration, showed that while the dairy goat flocks suffered a substantial drop in milk prices, this impact was not seen in sheep milk, which remained almost stable. A price drop for lambs or goat kids was also reported. These data are in agreement with the unexpected drop of lambs and goat kids’ sacrifices in April, as reported by some slaughterhouses. We registered a short-term negative economic impact on Spanish small ruminant’s flocks after COVID-19’s pandemic declaration in the country. The long-term economic consequences still need to be studied to establish contingency plans for this type of sanitary crisis.

Abstract

The human pandemic COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) started in China in 2019 and has rapidly spread around the world, leading to extreme control measures such as population confinement and industry activity closure. Although small ruminants are not sanitary affected by this virus, the short-term economic impact derived by COVID-19 on Spanish flocks is estimated in this study, using data provided by producers and two major slaughterhouses. Milk prices of dairy goat flocks suffered a substantial drop in April 2020, close to 4.5 cts EUR/liter compared to the previous month. In contrast, the monthly milk prices in sheep remained almost stable during this period, and even increases of more than EUR 6 cts were reported in comparison with the previous year. Nevertheless, economical differences are reported by areas where producers could receive a higher income, close to EUR 0.3 per liter of milk. Global data provided by feedlots affecting 2750 Spanish flocks evidenced a lamb price drop ranging from 16.8% to 26.9% after the pandemic arrival; in line with the data directly reported by a limited sample of producers (ranging from 11.0% to 23.7%). The goat kid meat market also suffered a reduction in prices per kg, near 12.5%; although, for some flocks, losses reached up to 40%. In the same line, 2 slaughterhouses reported a sudden sacrifice drop around 27% for lambs and goat kids sacrifices in April, in contrast with the usual sacrifice figures from the beginning of 2020. Moreover, our study showed a temporary and unexpected retention of lambs and goat kids at farms due to a reduction in animals slaughtered during this period. In conclusion, data evidenced a considerable negative economic impact on Spanish small ruminant flocks, throughout the first 60 days after COVID-19’s pandemic declaration. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term economic consequences, in order to establish contingency plans and avoid the collapse of small ruminant industries when a crisis of these characteristics occurs.

Ultrasound processing of fresh and frozen semi-skimmed sheep milk and its effects on microbiological and physical-chemical quality

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound treatment on the microbiological quality, protein and free amino acid profile of fresh and frozen stored semi-skimmed sheep milk. Milk was treated as fresh or frozen and stored up to one, three and six months. Output power time and pulse time were the parameters combined to design four different ultrasound (US) treatments: power 78 W and duration 6 min (US1); power 78 W and duration 8 min (US2); power 104 W and duration 4 min (US3) power 104 W and duration 6 min (US4). Pulse duration was of 4 s for each treatment. Sample US1 was discarded due to non effectiveness of US treatment, while other samples showed interesting results. Also, it was verified a frost effect on microorganisms in all samples which were frozen before treatment. No relevant change was reported on amino acid profile. The study showed promising results: the ultrasound treatment inactivated or eliminated the studied contaminant bacteria in semi-skimmed sheep milk, while maintained acceptable amount of lactic bacteria, which could be advantageous for dairy products processing.

The Distribution of Essential, Trace, and Nonessential Minerals in Weanling Male Rats Fed Sheep or Cow Milk

SCOPE

The aim of the study is to determine the effects of sheep milk consumption in comparison to cow milk on the mineral distribution in the soft organs and serum in a growing animal model system. As the mineral composition of cow and sheep milk differs, different effects on the bio-accumulations in the body may be observed. Differences in the mineral composition of cow and sheep milk may lead to different bioavailability or accumulation of minerals in the body. Newly weaned rats were fed either cow milk, sheep milk, or sheep milk diluted so that it had the same solid content as cow milk. At the end of the feeding trial, the concentration of minerals in the organs and plasma of the rats was assessed. The results indicate that the consumption of the high level of minerals in sheep milk does not have any negative effects in the rat model.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Newly weaned male rats were fed ad libitum for 28 days on either cow milk, sheep milk, or sheep milk diluted to have the same concentration of milk solids as cow milk. Animals were euthanized and the soft organs and serum were harvested and then analyzed for mineral composition by inductively coupled plasma MS. Rats fed sheep milk had lower iron concentrations in the liver and higher concentrations of rubidium and cesium in all of the soft organs. The growth rate of the rats was not affected by the type of milk consumed.

CONCLUSION

The concentration of essential and trace minerals in the liver is found to be significantly different between rats fed sheep milk compared to those fed cow milk (p < 0.05). The consumption of sheep milk does not affect the growth of animals.

Assessing the effects of different prebiotic dietary oligosaccharides in sheep milk ice cream

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of different prebiotic dietary oligosaccharides (inulin, fructo-oligosaccharide, galacto-oligossacaride, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharide, resistant starch, corn dietary oligosaccharide and polydextrose) in non-fat sheep milk ice cream processing through physical parameters, water mobility and thermal analysis. Overall, the fat replacement by dietary prebiotic oligosaccharides significantly decreased the melting time, melting temperature and the fraction and relaxation time for fat and bound water (T₂₂) while increased the white intensity and glass transition temperature. The replacement of sheep milk fat by prebiotics in sheep milk ice cream constitutes an interesting option to enhance nutritional aspects and develop a functional food.