Short communication: Space allocation in intensive Mediterranean buffalo production influences the profile of functional biomolecules in milk and dairy products

摘要

The aim of the present study was to determine if spaceallocation influenced the concentration of biomoleculesin buffalo milk and dairy products. Intensively housedbuffaloes (n = 96) were randomly assigned to 2 groupsaccording to days in milk, parity, and milk yield: groupS10 had a space allocation of 10 m~2 per buffalo andgroup S15 had a space allocation of 15 m~2 per buffalo.Individual milk yield was recorded daily. Twice a month,a bulk milk sample was collected for each group, as wellas whey, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese, to assess cheeseyield and to conduct HPLC-electrospray ionizationtandemmass spectrometry, milk antioxidant activity,and cell viability analyses. We tested milk extractsfrom the 2 groups in vitro to evaluate their efficacyin counteracting endothelial oxidative damage inducedby high glucose. We evaluated reproductive functionin 28 buffaloes from each group using the Ovsynchtimedartificial insemination program. We observed nodifferences in milk quantity or quality in terms of fat,protein, or lactose, and reproductive function did notdiffer between the 2 groups. Compared with group S10,group S15 had higher concentrations of carnitine (56.7± 1.1 vs. 39.8 ± 0.7 mg/L in milk and 40.9 ± 0.8 vs.31.7 ± 0.7 mg/L in whey), acetyl-l-carnitine (51.9 ±0.3 vs. 39.7 ± 0.7 mg/L in milk and 41.1 ± 1.7 vs.28.7 ± 2.6 mg/L in whey), propionyl-l-carnitine (34.8± 1.0 vs. 21.0 ± 0.9 mg/L in milk and 26.9 ± 0.8 vs.17.6 ± 1.2 mg/L in whey), glycine betaine (23.1 ± 1.9vs. 13.5 ± 1.6 mg/L in milk and 10.7 ± 0.4 vs. 7.9 ±0.5 mg/L in whey), and δ-valerobetaine (24.2 ± 0.5vs. 16.7 ± 0.5 mg/L in milk and 22.0 ± 0.9 vs. 15.5 ±0.7 mg/L in whey). Group S15 also had higher totalantioxidant activity than group S10 (56.7 ± 1.9 vs. 46.4± 1.13 mM Trolox equivalents). Co-incubation of highglucose-treated endothelial cells with milk extractsfrom group S15 improved cell viability compared withcells treated with high glucose only; it also reducedintracellular lipid peroxidation (144.3 ± 0.4 vs. 177.5 ±1.9%), reactive oxygen species (141.3 ± 0.9 vs. 189.3 ±4.7 optical density units), and cytokine release (tumornecrosis factor-α, IL-1β, IL-6). Greater space allocationwas associated with higher levels of biomolecules in buffalomilk. This could have been the result of improvedwelfare in buffaloes that were allocated more space.