Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
408 Old Main
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802-1505
Performing Department
Animal Science
Non Technical Summary
The complex melting characteristics of butter are important to its versatility and key to physical properties of butter and other high fat dairy products. Milk fatty acid profile has an impact on the spreadability of butter and recent controversies have proposed that diets fed to dairy cows may be impacting butter properties in a negative way. We hypothesize that some diets that are commonly fed to dairy cows that change milk fatty acid profile impact the melting characteristics of milk fat. We will use milk fat from previous experiments that caused changes in milk fatty acid profile and validate these responses in butter. Our unique collaborative team will also deliver the findings through a diverse set of Extension activities. Our overall goal is to improve the quality of butter and milk fat products by better understanding the connections between cow management and finished products and educate dairy producers and nutritionists, milk processors, and consumers on key factors important to producing high quality dairy products.We expect this project will vastly expand our understanding of the relationship between diets, milk fatty acid profile, and melting properties of milk fat and will deliver this information to both producers and processors. This will have direct application to solve a critical and emerging issue for producers, processors, and consumers. We expect the ability to produce butter and other dairy products with ideal properties will increase demand for US dairy products by reducing use of vegetable oil spreads and imported products with more ideal properties.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Our overall goal is to improve the quality of butter and milk fat products by better understanding the connections between diets fed to cows and finished products and educate dairy producers and nutritionists, milk processors, and consumers on key factors important to producing products that better meets consumer demands.Specific Aims1. Research Aim: Characterize the effect of diets fed to dairy cows on melting properties of milk fat.2. Extension Aim: Extension programming for dairy nutritionists, producers and processors.
Project Methods
RESEARCH AIM: Characterize the effect of diets fed to dairy cows on melting properties of milk fat.We will first characterization of melting properties of milk fat from previously conducted experiments that modified milk fatty acid profile. The experiments will include experiments that 1. fed a milk fat depressing diet that increased trans 18:1 in milk fat, 2. Fed increasing levels of oilseeds, and 3. Fed supplements that contained differing levels of palmitic and stearic acid. Physical properties of extracted milk fat will be characterized using multiple methods. First, melting and solidification behavior of anhydrous milk fat samples will be measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Second, solid fat content with be measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Lastly, crystalline polymorphisms of selected samples will be evaluated by X-ray diffraction.Next, we will verify the effect of palmitic and oleic acid on melting properties of butter. Eight ruminally cannulated cows will be arranged in a 4x4 Latin square design. Treatments will be a no fat control and abomasal infusion of an emulsion of highly enriched palmitic acid, oleic acid, or stearic acid. Milk will also be collected on the last day of each period for preparation of butter. Physical properties of extracted milk fat and butter will be characterized by DSC and NMR as described above.EXTENSION AIM: Extension programming for dairy nutritionists and producers and dairy processors.Background information and research findings will be communicated with dairy producers, dairy nutritionists, and other dairy industry professionals through a variety of face-to-face (regional conferences), on-line programing (webinars and videos), and written articles (on-line newsletters and Extension Bulletins). To maximize the reach from the current project, the proposed materials and programs will be incorporated into existing and well-recognized programs from Penn State Extension. Extension programming to be developed as part of the current project through 1. webinars focused, 2. Workshops and Conferences, 3. Videos, 4. On-Line Newsletter, 5. Print Newsletter, and 6. Lectures at workshops and conferences. Topics covered will focus on milk fat quality factors are important to processors and consumers, how feeding strategies on finished dairy product quality and functional properties, and how to manage dairy cow nutrition to modify the functional properties of dairy foods and ingredients.