FATTY ACID COMPOSITION AND CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID CONTENT OF COW AND GOAT’S CHEESES FROM NORTHWEST ARGENTINA

VAN NIEUWENHOVE, C; OLISZEWSKI, R; GONZÁLEZ, S.

JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY

Blackwell Publishing

Año: 2009 vol. 32 p. 303 - 314

0146-9428

In this study we evaluated chemical characteristics, fatty acid composition and conjugated linoleic acid content of cow and goat’s cheeses from Northwest Argentina. Similar chemical and fatty acid composition were determined in milk and cheese of both species. Palmitic, oleic and miristic were the most abundant fatty acids in dairy products. CLA level averaged 0.85 and 0.96 in milk and 0.76 and 1.04 g/100 g of fatty acids in cheese of cow and goat, respectively. Cis-9,trans-11 was the major isomer present in both species. Significant differences on CLA desaturase activity were observed, showing a value of 0.068 and 0.064 in milk, and 0.077 and 0.071 in cheese of cow and goat’s, respectively. Good nutritional properties were determined for cheeses of both species, which are fed on natural pasture during spring and summer seasons. Goat’s cheese represents a higher source of CLA for human consumers than cow’s cheese, offering from 156.6 to 222.6 mg/ 100 g of sample. Keywords: Cow; Goat; Milk; Cheese; Fatty acids; Conjugated linoleic acid