The latter is particularly critical, since it is strongly involved in the metabolism of the mammalian organism and has a direct qualitative and quantitative influence on the lactation process. The sensorial and nutritional properties of dairy products depend strictly on milk composition, that, in turn, may be influenced by factors such as bovine lactation stage and age, farming methods, milk processing, and bovine diet. Milk is also processed into a variety of dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese. Milk metabolites derive from various cell types and originate downstream of different metabolic processes occurring in the bovine. Milk consists in a complex mixture of metabolites including water, lactose, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and proteins, including caseins and immunoglobulins. Finally, the analytical methodology of NMR spectroscopy shown here may be considered as a useful tool to assess the quality and the authenticity of biological milk.īovine milk is an essential constituent of the human diet, particularly in the Western world, being it nutrient-rich and well-balanced with respect to the nutritional values of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Our findings confirmed that the conversion from a conventional to biological feeding regime influenced the buffalo milk composition, with possible implications for sensorial and nutritional properties of dairy products. In particular, BFM were characterized by larger content of unsaturated lipids and phosphatidylcholine. The elaboration of multinuclear spectroscopic NMR results by the principal component analysis (PCA) enabled the identification of diagnostic differences in the milk composition between CFM and BFM samples. For each milk sample, we obtained NMR spectra of both raw milk and milk cream fractions comprising neutral lipids and phospholipids. Liquid-state 1H, 13C, and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies were used to study milk samples which were supplied during a 2-year-long experimentation by a single dairy farm and sampled from conventionally and biologically fed buffaloes (CFM and BFM, respectively). The aim of this work was to determine the composition of milk produced by water-buffaloes and to identify the specific metabolic profiles discriminating a biological from a conventional feeding diet. In addition, the possible frauds related to biological dairy products call for analytical tools enabling the authentication of products quality and consumers protection. However, it is still under debate whether the conversion from conventional to biological farming has an influence on milk composition. Biological farming in dairy production is often advocated as one of the most virtuous solutions to the environmental problems of conventional farming while improving the sustainability of production and cattle welfare.

Buffalo milk composition