Breed effect on milk coagulation and cheese quality parameters of dairy cattle

This study aimed to estimate the effect on milk coagulation and cheese quality traits of Holstein Friesian (HF) and Brown Swiss (BS) cattle reared in the Trento province. Data from 153 dairy cows (BS: 82 and HF: 71), herded in 9 mixed-breed dairy farms, were used for the estimation of the breed effect on the following milk coagulation traits: casein yield (CY), casein content (CC), acidity (SH50), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). The milk produced by a random sample of 41 dairy cows (BS: 22 and HF: 19), herded in 3 mixed-breed dairy farms, was processed to “Casolet” cheese, a local 60 d aged product of Trentino region, using either milk by BS or HF or mixed milk by BS+HF. Cheese quality traits considered were: acidity (pH), yellow index for cheese paste (b*) and tenderness (Te). Results on milk coagulation traits did not show any statistical difference between BS and HF for CY, SH50, Ca and P, whereas for CC, BS performed better than HF (P<0.05). Concerning cheese quality traits, the breed effect was negligible for pH, Te, and content of π-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, whereas cheese of BS showed higher b* value and lower content of π-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid respect to cheese by HF (P<0.001). Brown Swiss showed an higher cheese yield respect to HF breed over all time maturing and an absence of additive effect on cheese yield was found for milk of BS+HS in comparison with milk of BS and HF.