Effects of the vat pasteurization process and refrigerated storage on the bovine milk metabolome

Abstract

This study is the first to investigate the evolution of cow milk metabolites throughout the vat pasteurization process and storage using untargeted metabolomics based on a multiplatform approach. Nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used for fingerprinting water-soluble nutritional compounds, and headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to fingerprint the volatile organic compounds. This study demonstrated that vat pasteurization was an efficient and mild means of milk preservation resulting in only minor changes to the metabolites. The pasteurized milk samples exhibited a stable metabolome during the first 8 d of refrigerated storage. However, at the latter stage of storage, the concentrations of pantothenic acid and butyrylcarnitine decreased, whereas some fatty acids, organic acids, α-AA, peptides, and ketones increased. These selected metabolites that changed during milk storage could be used as potential biomarkers to track the storage conditions of pasteurized cow milk.

Historical Evolution of Cattle Management and Herd Health of Dairy Farms in OECD Countries

“…Although milk has been consumed historically in rural areas by farmers, only the development of the pasteurization process by Louis Pasteur in 1864 [ 17 ] made it possible for the milk supply and its derivates to be consumed by the urban population from the beginning of the 20th century [ 18 ]. Pasteurization turned milk into a safe product, extending its lifetime and preventing zoonotic diseases [ 19 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, according to Faostat [ 24 ], in the last decade (2010–2019), the Asian food supply quantity of milk and dairy derivate products (excluding butter) progressively increased from 37.3 to 45.9 kg/per capita/year. Lactose-free or lactose-reduced has been one of the solutions from the dairy industry to feed lactose intolerant people [ 19 , 25 ].…”

Application of Spectroscopic Techniques to Evaluate Heat Treatments in Milk and Dairy Products: an Overview of the Last Decade

“…In a very recent study, Zhu et al (2020a) used highresolution 1 H-NMR, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), and ultra-performance liquid chromatographyquadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLCQ-ToF/ MS) to monitor changes in cows' milk metabolites throughout vat pasteurization process and storage at 4°C up to 12 days. Minor changes were observed in the metabolites detected by these three methods during processing.…”

“…On the other hand, significant differences were obtained after 8 days of storage for 24 different metabolites determined by NMR and MS techniques. The metabolites were mainly organic acids, amino acids and peptides, vitamins, carbohydrate derivatives, carboxylic ester, ketones, and fatty acids (Zhu et al, 2020a). Using a similar experimental approach, the authors investigated the effect of freeze-drying and the subsequent storage up to 224 days at three different temperatures on milk metabolites.…”

Optimization of nuclear magnetic resonance and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based fingerprinting methods to characterize goat milk powder

“…The NMR sample extraction and experiments were performed based on the method reported by Zhu et al (2020) with some modifications. During sample extraction, 4 replicates of 1.0 g of GMP was dissolved in 4 mL of distilled water and centrifuged at 4,696 × g for 30 min at 4°C (Heraeus Megafuge 16R; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA).…”