Production of organic milk of high quality considering the future demands for use of organically produced feed and natural vitamins

Future regulations for organic production of milk stipulate that all feed must be organically produced, and that the cow can only be fed natural vitamins and antioxidants.This leads to feeding changes of such a magnitude that it must be presumed to influence the antioxidative capacity and thus the shelf-life of the milk. The project aims at elucidating the nature of the consequences that these new regulations for organic feeding and use of natural vitamins and antioxidants for cows in organic milk production will have on the antioxidative capacity of the milk. New studies show that uric acid in milk is an important antioxidant of significance for the oxidative stability of milk. During the project, it is the aim to increase the supply of selenium and the development of endogeneous antioxidants (uric acid and glutathione peroxidase) in order to produce oxidatively stable milk and dairy products.

Publications

Project title
II.2 Production of organic milk of high quality considering the future demands for use of organically produced feed and natural vitamins (ORMILQ)

Project leader
Head of Research Unit
Jacob Holm Nielsen
Department of Animal Product Quality
Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences
P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
Tel.: +45 8999 1163/Mobile tel.: +45 2274 1163
Fax: +45 8999 1564
E-mail: jacobh.nielsen@agrsci.dk

Project participants
Professor Leif Skibsted
Department of Dairy and Food Science
The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University
Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Tel.: +45 3528 3221, Fax: +45 3528 3344

Senior Scientist Henrik Østdal
Department of Animal Product Quality
Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences
P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
Tel.: +45 8999 1248, Fax: +45 8999 1564