Cheese quality from milk of grazing or indoor fed Zebu cows and Alpine crossbred goats

Sixty Alpine crossbred goats were pastured on 14 ha of shrub land and 14 Zebu cattle on 16 ha of a tropical Legume forest with grasses, both groups supplemented with a slow-intake urea mixture (SIUS). Milk production was sustained by the SIUS supplement, when forage growth was reduced, thus avoiding over-grazing of the rangeland, and production of cheese by the farmer was assured. Artisan cheese was made from the non-pasteurized raw milk. During the spring and summer of 2004, cheese quality parameters of fatty acid contents and nutroceutical components in cheese made from the milk of grazing Zebu cattle or Alpine crossbred goats was studied, and compared with cheeses manufactured of milk from indoor fed animals. Monoterpene and sesquiterpene contents in spring in grazed Zebu cheese were 460 and 520 ng/kg cheese, respectively, while indoor fed Zebu cattle had 126 and 210 ng/kg. Goat cheese monoterpenes were 480 ng/kg in the spring and 440 ng/kg in the summer on grazed animals. Sesquiterpenes content in goat cheese were 1200 ng/kg in the summer and 500 ng/kg in the spring on pasture goats. Fat content was lower in grazed Zebu cattle cheese at 13.6 g/100 g cheese and cholesterol was 70.5 mg/100 g cheese, compared to 17.5 g fat/100 g cheese and 79.1 mg/100 g cheese for indoor fed Zebu cattle. Grazing caused higher tocopherol contents in cheese from grazing Zebu at 127 mg/100 g DM, compared to 77 mg/100 g DM in cheese from indoor fed cattle. Grazing also increased the linoleic acid content in Zebu cattle cheese (173 mg/kg versus 140 mg/kg/cheese) but especially in goat grazing up to 183 mg/100 g cheese. Differences between spring and summer were similar. Cheese fat and cholesterol contents were lower for grazing goats at 12.3 g/100 g cheese and 63.2 mg/100 g cheese, compared to 16.9 g/100 g cheese and 80.4 mg/100 g cheese for indoor fed goats, respectively. Grazing caused higher tocopherol contents in cheese from goats at 211 mg/100 g cheese, compared to 87 mg/100 g cheese, respectively, in indoor fed goat cheese. The presence of omega 3 and 6 distribution, were mostly better in GG and GC. Values of the series omega 3 fatty acids were higher in GG. Alfa linolenic-ALA and oleic acids had the highest concentration in GG cheese. The omega 6 fatty acids (total linolenic, eicosatrienoic and archiodenic) were higher in GG as compared to the other cheeses. Finally for cis-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoico acid (DHA) in both indoor made cheeses presented higher concentrations compared with grazed made cheeses. FAME total concentration subdivided in saturated and monounsaturated, were significantly higher for IG and IC from GG and GC (P < 0.05). For polyunsaturated FAME results were similar to all groups. For the total concentration of the ω-3 series, the highest values (0.06 g/100 g fresh cheese) corresponded to GG and GC. Finally, the relationship between ω-3:ω-6 averaged 3.48 in all groups. It is concluded that cheese from grazing animals was better in quality parameters for human nutrition than that produced from milk of indoor fed animals due to the botanical differences in the two feeding systems regardless of the species of animals.