A Comparison of Milk Clotting Characteristics and Quality Traits of Rendena and Holstein-Friesian Cows

Abstract

Milk coagulation properties (MCP) and composition, as predicted by mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS), were compared between Rendena (RE) local breed and HolsteinFriesian (HF) cows using 4614 individual milk samples from 28 single-breed herds. Records of rennet coagulation time (RCT, min), curd firmness (a30, mm), daily milk yield and quality traits were analysed using a linear mixed model which included fixed effects of breed, herd-test-date nested within breed, lactation stage, parity, and two-way interactions between the main effects. Random effects were cow nested within breed and residual. Milk from RE coagulated 2.1 min earlier and showed a firmer curd by 4.8 mm than that of HF cows (P<0.05). Milk yield (+9.7 kg/d) and fat content (+0.22 g/100 g) were greater for HF than RE (P<0.05), while protein (+0.05 g/100 g) and casein (+0.06 g/100 g) contents were greater in milk from RE cows (P<0.05). Rennet coagulation time was shortest at the beginning of lactation, and a30 was firmest at the beginning and end of lactation. Results from this study suggest that milk of RE is more suitable for cheese processing than that of HF cows. Milk clotting characteristics of the local breed should be taken into account when developing strategies useful for its valorisation.

Phenotypic analysis of milk coagulation properties and mineral content of Pinzgauer cattle breed

“…Curd-firming time increased with parity, while a 30 differed only between first and later parity cows. These results partially agreed with Penasa et al (2014) and Varotto et al (2015), who observed shorter RCT and firmer curd in milk of primiparous than multiparous cows. However, Ikonen et al (2004) reported no effect of parity on MCPs.…”

“…The greatest a 30 was observed at the onset of the lactation, it reached the lowest values between 1 and 7 months after calving, and increased thereafter. The better MCPs in early lactation agreed with the trend described by several authors (Ikonen et al, 2004;De Marchi et al, 2007;Penasa et al, 2014;Varotto et al, 2015;Visentin et al, 2015). Concentration of Ca and Mg decreased and then increased until 10 months from calving, while Na increased during lactation until 9 months from calving.…”

“…Among MCPs, a 30 was the trait with the greatest CV, in agreement with results from other authors (Toffanin et al, 2015;Varotto et al, 2015;Niero et al, 2016). As expected, milk was richer in K and Ca, and poorer in Mg (Gaucheron, 2005;Soyeurt et al, 2009;Niero et al, 2016;Visentin et al, 2016Visentin et al, , 2018.…”

Phenotypic characterisation of milk technological traits, protein fractions, and major mineral and fatty acid composition of Burlina cattle breed*

“…None of the fixed effects included in the model was significant in explaining the variation of RCT and a 30 (p > .05). Nevertheless, both traits deteriorated across parities and showed better values in early than late lactation (data not shown), in agreement with findings of Penasa et al (2014) and Varotto et al (2015) on milk of Holstein-Friesian cows.…”

“…Fat content was slightly lower and protein content was greater than values reported by Penasa et al (2014), who compared three cattle breeds in mixed dairy herds for predicted MCP and composition traits. Fat and lactose percentages were close to those reported for milk of Rendena local cattle breed (Varotto et al 2015), whereas protein percentage was lower. The SCS averaged 3.13 and this value was greater than that reported by Tiezzi et al (2015) in a study on the relationships between milk quality and coagulation properties in Italian Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle reared in Veneto region.…”