The quality of Slovak and Alpine milk products based on fatty acid health affecting compounds

Abstract

The contents of 53 fatty acids (FA) in milk products of ewes grazed on pastures in four Slovak localities were determined by GCMS. Their contents with an emphasis on health affecting fatty acids, mainly cis-9,trans-11 C18:2 (CLA), trans-11 C18:1 (tVA), and α-linolenic acid (ALA), were compared with available milk product fatty acids contents of grazing cows in four Swiss Alpine localities. The composition of fatty acids in milk of ewes fed total mixed rations (TMR) was also determined. In spite of significant altitude differences between Slovak pastures (250-800 m above mean sea level) and Alpine pastures (1275-2120 m above m.s.l.) as well as differences in botanical composition, the milk and cheese contents of CLA, tVA, and ALA were found to be rather similar. The relative high contents of beneficial FAs in Slovak and Alpine milk products are linked to grazing the pasture with a high content of ALA. The content of trans-11,cis-13 CLA isomer as the second-most abundant CLA isomer specified as an indicator of milk products of Alpine origin was also found in Slovak milk product of ewes grazing on lowland pastures, but not in the milk of ewes fed TMR. The investigated Slovak milk products of ewes grazed on pastures offer at least comparable content of health affecting FAs as the best Alpine cows’ milk products. The CLA content in Slovak ewes’ milk up to 3.2% and content of tVA up to 7.2% are higher than those in pasture-fed ewes and cows milk published previously.