Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Carotenoid content in cow milk from organic and conventional farms in Southern Brazil

Author(s):

Shirley Kuhnen ¹*, Juliana Roemers Moacyr ², Rafael Trevisan ³, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho ¹, Marcelo Maraschin ⁴

Recieved Date: 2013-06-18, Accepted Date: 2013-10-22

Abstract:

 Milk from conventional and organic farms in Southern Brazil, was collected to determine the effect of dairy system on carotenoid content and sensorial characteristics of dairy products. Milk was sampled in the tanker twice during the experimental period from 15 conventional and 8 certified organic dairy farms in Southern Brazil. On organic farms, forage was used on intensive, rotational grazing management, without supplementation. The conventional production systems employed different amounts of supplementation (concentrate and maize silage) plus pasture. The forage species were different according to the system, with a more diversified botanical composition in the organic system. Similar levels of β-carotene and lutein for both production systems were found. For β-carotene, the values in organic and conventional milk were 8.07 and 10.81 mg kg^-1 of fat, and for lutein were 0.97 and 1.32 mg kg^-1 of fat, respectively. On the other hand, a significantly higher content of zeaxanthin was observed for conventional milk (0.83 mg kg^-1 of fat), in comparison to organic milk (1.07 mg kg^-1 of fat) (P<0.05). These findings suggest that it is difficult to distinguish the dairy production systems from Southern Brazil using the milk’s carotenoid content. Thus other trace chemicals should be investigated to differentiate organic milk in Brazilian market.

Keywords:

Carotenoids, β-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, organic milk

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 3&4
Category: Food and Health
Pages: 221-224

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