Summary of Project

Principal investigator: Jana Kraft

SUMMARY

There is growing interest in the development of functional milk and dairy products to maximize their contribution to health promotion and disease prevention. Because omega-3 fatty acids and selenium have been recognized as nutrients of high biological value that impart health benefits, they represent promising functional food components enriched in milk and dairy products. The long-range goal of the proposed work is to improve the healthfulness of milk, tailored to optimize health and thereby prevent disease development, through a targeted feeding strategy applied to the dairy cow. The project is designed to develop a strategy to enhance the nutritional quality of animal products (milk) for human consumption. Thus, specific objectives are: (1) to test, evaluate, and establish a novel rumen-protected omega-3 fatty acid source to increase the contents of omega-3 fatty acids in milk fat; (2) to evaluate the effects of feeding the rumen-protected oil, selenium, or the combination of both, respectively, with focus on enriching the milk with omega-3 FA or/and selenium, on milk production and quality, metabolic key parameters, and animal performance measures; and (3) to validate the efficacy of the value-added milk products. The proposed project will utilize in vitro, in situ, and in vivo techniques (objective 1), on-farm research (objective 2), and an established animal model for biomedical research (objective 3). Promoting the health-enhancing opportunities of milk will benefit the dairy producer (increased marketability and profit) and the consumer (health benefit, increased appeal and acceptability).

Last modified October 07 2011 02:41 PM