Chemical And Organoleptic Characteristics Of Cheese From Dairy Cows Supplemented With Soya And Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils

Abstract Text: Lipid supplements have been used to improve the fatty acid profile of dairy products; however, little information is available concerning the effect of dietary vegetable oils on the sensorial properties of cow’s milk cheese. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of soya (SO) and partially hydrogenated vegetable (PHVO) oils supplementation in dairy cow diets on the chemical composition of milk and cheese and organoleptic characteristics of cheese. Nine multiparous Holstein cows averaging 169 ± 24 DIM (average ± SD) at the beginning of the study were used in a replicated (n=3) 3×3 Latin square design that included three periods of  21 d. All cows received a basal diet formulated with a 56:44 forage:concentrate ratio. Dietary treatments consisted of the basal diet (C; no fat supplement), and fat-supplemented diets containing SO (unrefined oil; 500 g/d/cow) and PHVO (manufactured from palm oil; 500 g/d/cow). Individual milk samples were taken at 0700 h on day 20 of each period. Milk collected on day 21 from the same treatment and period across Latin squares was pooled and made into cheese. Three cheeses per treatment per period were allowed to mature for 14 d and analyzed for moisture, ash, fat and total protein contents. Sensory evaluation of cheeses was carried out in relation to 16 attributes: appearance (colour homogeneity and holes), odour (overall odour, ripe cheese odour and cow milk odour), flavour (salty, acid, bitter, overall flavor and ripe cheese flavour), and texture (sharpness, toughness, graininess, screeching, moisture and greasiness). Except for ash, milk composition was not affected by treatments. Cheese chemical composition was not affected by dietary treatments. Sensory attributes were not affected by treatments, however four principal components explained around 0.64 of the overall variance in the data. The outcome of this study showed that supplementing dairy cow diets with SO or PHVO do not have detrimental effect on the chemical composition of milk and cheese and the organoleptic characteristics of cheese. This study was sponsored by a research grant from FONDECYT 11121142 (Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, Chile).

Keywords: cheese, milk, organoleptic characteristics