Quality and nutraceutical potential of bovine milk in different production systems and seasons

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the interaction between production systems and seasons on the chemical and microbiological qualities of bovine milk, besides proposing a potential nutraceutical index of milk fatty acid profiles. Three farms were assessed monthly, along the different seasons, for four specialization levels of the production systems: highly specialized, specialized, partially specialized, and nonspecialized. The production systems and the seasons jointly interfere in fatty acid profiles, and singly interfere in the chemical and microbiological quality of milk. The highest somatic cell counts and the lowest protein contents were observed in the summer, and the specialization level of the production units had an inverse relationship with the total bacterial count. During winter, nonspecialized systems produced milk with the best nutraceutical index, with the highest contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, rumenic acid (CLA, 18:2n7‑c9,t11) and t10,c12-octadecadienoic acid (CLA, 18:2n6-t10,c12).