Milk Processing Study is a Major Step for Dairy Sustainability

Highlights

• The study evaluated the effects of feeding different diets to dairy cows on the composition and functionality of various dairy products. ​

• The dairy products evaluated in the study included raw whole milk and skimmed milk.

• The study assessed the fatty acid profile, volatiles associated with taste and smell, gelation properties associated with the processability of milk from cows fed Asparagopsis armata steeped in oil (Asp-Oil).

• The results showed that the inclusion of Asp-Oil in the cows' diet did not have any significant negative effects on the quality or functionality of milk processability. ​

• Therefore, the study provided evidence to support the use of Asp-Oil in reducing the environmental impact of dairy production without compromising the quality or functionality of dairy products. ​

Can including small amounts of seaweed feed for dairy cows be good for global warming and good for Gouda at the same time?

Short answer. Yes.

Small, twice daily offerings of Asparagopsis-oil to dairy cows has demonstrated to be a meaningful methane mitigation method.

Determining whether the milk from those cows could be used for products such as cheese and yoghurt was the next step in evaluating milk from Asparagopsis-fed cows.

This new study provides compelling evidence to support the use of Asparagopsis to reduce the environmental impact of cow’s milk used for a range of dairy products.

Previous studies, including Roque et al. (2019)  found that it was safe to feed Asparagopsis to dairy cows, and effectively reduced their methane emissions.

In this most recent study published in February this year by Alvarez-Hess et al., The influence of feeding canola oil steeped Asparagopsis armata on resulting fatty acid profile and dairy processing properties of cow’s milk, 39 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows were randomly allocated one of three supplement treatments over a 32-day experiment:

1. Control of canola oil

2. Asparagopsis-oil with the seaweed biomass removed

3. Asparagopsis-oil with the seaweed biomass retained

The results of this study, showed that inclusion of Asparagopsis in the animals feed did not influence the key compounds associated with taste, smell or processability of the milk.

The study is co-authored by FutureFeed scientists Dr Rob Kinley and Dr Breanna Roque.

FutureFeed CEO Alex Baker said the results continue to demonstrate the effective use of Asparagopsis as a natural livestock feed ingredient in various production animal feed settings.

“Pleasingly, the study findings indicate that feeding Asparagopsis to dairy cows, in this case as an oil formulation, did not have a significant impact on the fatty acid composition of the milk produced as compared to the control milk,’’ he said.

“This coupled with the equivalent functional performance of the milk in preparation of dairy products is extremely encouraging for the future of the global dairy industry as it faces worldwide pressure to become more sustainable and continue to provide a major food commodity for human nutrition and health.’’