Production of Bovine Equol-Enriched Milk: A Review

Water Stress Influences Phytoestrogen Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) but Not Kura Clover (T. ambiguum)

Some forage legumes synthesize phytoestrogens. We conducted a glasshouse study to investigate how water stress (drought and waterlogging) influences phytoestrogen accumulation in red clover and kura clover. Compared to the red clover control, the 20 day drought resulted in an over 100% increase in the phytoestrogens formononetin and biochanin A, which together accounted for 91-96% of the total phytoestrogens measured. Waterlogging resulted in elevated concentrations of daidzein, genistein, and prunetin but not formononetin or biochanin A. Concentrations of phytoestrogens in kura clover were low or undetectable, regardless of water stress treatment. Leaf water potential was the most explanatory single-predictor of the variation in concentrations of formononetin, biochanin A, and total phytoestrogens in red clover. These results suggest that drought-stressed red clover may have higher potential to lead to estrogenic effects in ruminant livestock and that kura clover is a promising alternative low- or no-phytoestrogen perennial forage legume.

Supplementation with antioxidants and phenolic compounds in ruminant feeding and its effect on dairy products: a systematic review

Milk and dairy products have great importance in human nutrition related to the presence of different nutrients, including protein, fatty acid profile and bioactive compounds. Dietary supplementation with foods containing these types of compounds may influence the chemical composition of milk and dairy products and hence, potentially, the consumer. Our objective was to summarize the evidence of the effect of supplementation with antioxidants and phenolic compounds in the diets of dairy animals and their effects on milk and dairy products. We conducted a systematic search in the MEDLINE/PubMed database for studies published up until July 2022 that reported on supplementation with antioxidants and phenolic compounds in diets that included plants, herbs, seeds, grains and isolated bioactive compounds of dairy animals such as cows, sheep and goats and their effects on milk and dairy products. Of the 94 studies identified in the search, only 15 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. The review revealed that supplementation with false flax cake, sweet grass, Acacia farnesiana, mushroom myceliated grains and sweet grass promoted an effect on the milk lipid profile, whereas supplementation with dried grape pomace and tannin extract promoted an effect on the milk and cheese lipid profiles. In six studies, the addition of Acacia farnesiana, hesperidin or naringin, durum wheat bran, mushroom myceliated grains, dried grape pomace and olive leaves increased the antioxidant activity of milk. In conclusion, supplementation with bioactive compounds had a positive impact which ranged from an increase in antioxidant capacity to a decrease in oxidative biomarkers such as malondialdehyde.

Advances in the Metabolic Mechanism and Functional Characteristics of Equol

Equol is the most potent soy isoflavone metabolite and is produced by specific intestinal microorganisms of mammals. It has promising application possibilities for preventing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and prostate cancer due to its high antioxidant activity and hormone-like activity. Thus, it is of great significance to systematically study the efficient preparation method of equol and its functional activity. This paper elaborates on the metabolic mechanism of equol in humans; focuses on the biological characteristics, synthesis methods, and the currently isolated equol-producing bacteria; and looks forward to its future development and application direction, aiming to provide guidance for the application and promotion of equol in the field of food and health products.

Occurrence of Polyphenols, Isoflavonoids, and Their Metabolites in Milk Samples from Different Cow Feeding Regimens

In this work, milk samples collected in a cohort of intensive dairy farms of the Po Valley (Italy) were screened for their (poly)-phenolic profile to check the occurrence of phenolic metabolites of biological interest. The selected dairy farms were previously classified on the basis of their cow feeding system, considering the utilization of corn silage as the main ingredient of the rations. Overall, ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry using an Orbitrap analyzer, followed by unsupervised and supervised statistics, allowed identifying clear different phenolic distributions in the milk samples. Accordingly, a great variability in the phenolic profiles of the different milk samples was observed, with two main phenolic clusters outlined by the unsupervised hierarchical clustering approach and not fully correlated to the nutritional strategy considered. The variables’ importance in the projection approach allowed selecting the most important metabolites, resulting in samples’ discrimination. Among the most discriminative compounds, we found phenolic metabolites (such as hippuric acid and 4-hydroxyhippuric acid), followed by lignans (such as enterolactone) and isoflavonoids (such as equol and O-desmethylangolensin). Taken together, our findings suggested that both the feeding systems and the ability of dairy cows to process parent phenolic compounds were the main factors providing the final (poly)-phenolic profile of the milk samples. Future targeted and ad hoc studies appear of great interest to evaluate the potential biological effects of these compounds on cow health.

Explore Gastric Lipolysis and Lipid Oxidation of Conventional versus Pasture-Based Milk by a Semi-dynamic In Vitro Digestion Model

Research on gastric lipolysis of commercial cow's milk with different fatty acid (FA) compositions is scarce. Gastric lipase exhibits specificity for the sn-3 chain position of triacylglycerols, whose structure is influenced by milk FA composition. Therefore, during gastric digestion of conventional (C) vs pasture-based (P) milk, differences may occur on lipolysis, which has impact on free FA available, influencing their absorption/metabolism rate and physiological hormonal responses. Those two milk types were subjected to the INFOGEST semi-dynamic digestion model. Five gastric emptying points were analyzed for oxidative degradation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and individual free FA. The relative release of medium-chain FA (C8:0-C12:0) was higher than that of longer-chain FA (C14:0-C18:0), and a linear increase in markers of PUFA oxidative degradation occurred along gastric digestion. Quantitatively, C8:0, C18:2n-6, C18:3n-3, and CLAc9t11 were higher (P < 0.001) in P milk when compared with C milk.