AVAILABILITY OF BIOACTIVE FATTY ACIDS IN PUFA-ENRICHED BUTTERS FROM THE PARMIGIANO REGGIANO CHEESE AREA: A COMPARISON WITH COMMERCIAL BRANDS

The fatty acid profile of 32 butter samples were analyzed by fast gas-chromatography. Italian and foreign butters, 21 and 7 respectively, were collected at local markets in Europe, while 4 experimental butter samples were produced at a local dairy farm in the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium (CFPR) area, from fresh outcrop milk creams obtained by supplementing the traditional diet of dairy cows with 300 g/d of extruded linseed. With the respect to the Italian and foreign butter samples, experimental butter showed a lower content of medium-chain SFA (-8.5% and -8.6%), a better SFA/UFA ratio (1.78), a higher content of CLA (+32% and +15,3%), total n-3 PUFA (+56,4% and +28,8%) and trans fatty acids (+23.8% and +11.1%). This study support the feasibility for a sustainable production of value-added by-product of dairy industry, by improving cow’s feeding strategy to achieve a higher content of bioactive fatty acids in milk fat, leading to the production of dairy products that may be more beneficial to consumers.