Feeding cows with hay, silage, or fresh herbage on pasture or indoors affects sensory properties and chemical composition of milk and cheese

Abstract

In European countries, silage-free feeding is an ancient tradition and has a particularly positive reputation among consumers. In the present study, we compared grass-based forages from the same plot conserved as hay or silage or fed fresh either on pasture or indoors, and we evaluated the differences in sensory properties of milk and uncooked pressed cheese. All herbage from the first cut of a grassland dominated by perennial ryegrass was harvested on the same day and preserved either as hay or silage. The first regrowth of the same plot was used for strip grazing or green feeding indoors. Balanced by breed, 24 Montbéliarde and 24 Holstein cows were allocated to the 4 treatments. Apart from the forages, the late-lactation cows received 3 kg/d of dry matter from concentrate. After 2 wk of dietary adaptation, the bulk milk of 3 subgroups, each with 4 cows, was collected. Part of the milk was pasteurized, and part was left raw and partly transformed to small-sized Cantal-type cheese ripened for 9 wk. Milk and cheese underwent descriptive sensory analysis by a trained sensory panel, as well as analyses of physicochemical traits. Volatile organic compounds of the cheeses were also analyzed. Raw and pasteurized milk from hay-fed cows had less intense odors of cooked milk, cream, and barnyard than milk from grazing cows, whereby the effect of pasteurization did not differ between herbage utilization methods. Cheeses obtained from cows fed fresh herbage (grazing and indoors) were clearly yellower than cheeses from silage-and hay-fed cows, which coincided with the color intensity perceived by the panelists. Moreover, cheeses from cows fed fresh herbage had more intense barnyard and dry fruit flavors, were perceived as creamier and having less lactic odor, and exhibited more fat exudation than those from cows fed conserved herbage. Only a few differences were observed in milk and cheeses from hay-fed compared with silage-fed cows, and those differences were far less pronounced than those of milk and cheeses from cows fed fresh herbage. In conclusion, the present study did not substantiate assumptions of clear sensory differences of milk and uncooked pressed cheese from hay-fed compared with silage-fed cows. For the first time, this study reports that the global flavor intensity of cheeses from indoor green-fed cows is similar to that of cheeses derived from cows fed conserved forages, whereas cheeses from grazing cows have the greatest global flavor intensity.

Ingested versus inhaled limonene in sheep: A pilot study to explore potential different transfer to the mammary gland and effects on milk and Caciotta cheese aroma

“…Other studies, in contrast, using various other types of cheese models, found the terpene content of cheese to increase from milk to ripened cheese (Poulopoulou et al, 2012) or to remain unchanged (Revello Chion et al, 2010). Overall, these discrepancies confirm that the actual evolution of terpene concentrations during cheesemaking and ripening can be very different (Aprea et al, 2016) and may depend on the cheese model and cheesemaking technique used (Verdier-Metz et al, 2000;Cornu et al, 2009;Manzocchi et al, 2021).…”

The impact of pasture and non-pasture diets on the sensory and volatile properties of whole milk powder

“…(2020b) in milk, but other studies did not find an impact of diet on levels of 1-hexanol in milk (Villeneuve et al ., 2013). Esters are probably present as a result of microbial activity in the rumen, post-pasteurisation microbial contamination or heat-catalysed esterification during thermal-treatment (Manzocchi et al ., 2021; Vazquez-Landaverde et al ., 2006). Only two fatty acid esters were found in these WMP samples and only methyl hexanoate varied with diet.…”

“…Both cooked aroma and cooked flavour were significantly higher in WMP derived from a GRS diet compared to WMP from TMR and CLV diets. This is different to that found in the consumer acceptance part of this study, and in previous studies (Clarke et al ., 2020 b ; Manzocchi et al ., 2021). The only VOC significantly higher in just GRS WMP were butanal and methyl hexanoate neither of which are associated with cooked flavour.…”

“…As mentioned, this may relate to differences in fat particle-size distribution, fat globule flocculation or fat coalescence due to the presence of lower-melting-point fatty acids and lactones due to diet (Richardson et al ., 1993; Villeneuve et al ., 2013; O'Callaghan et al ., 2016; Faulkner et al ., 2018). However, previous studies have not found that diet impacted creamy perception in milk (Manzocchi et al ., 2021).…”

Effect of Flaxseed Supplementation in Diet of Dairy Cow on the Volatile Organic Compounds of Raw Milk by HS-GC–IMS

“…Previous reports stated that many factors such as feed ( 7 ) and breed ( 8 ) can cause variations in the volatile organic compound (VOC) levels in milk. Most studies that investigate feed focused on the forage types ( 7 , 9 ). For However, no studies reported the effects of flaxseed supplementation on milk flavor.…”