Dietary selenium intake in lactating dairy cows modifies fatty acid composition and volatile profile of milk and 30-day-ripened caciotta cheese

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary selenium supplementation of dairy cows on chemical–nutri- tional and aromatic properties of milk and related caciotta cheese. 34 Friesian cows were randomly assigned to two groups. The control group (CG) received a conventional feeding strategy, while the experimental group (EG) was fed with a daily selenomethionine supplementation. Dietary selenium integration did not induce variations on milk yield and composi- tion, but induced a marked decrease in somatic cell count. Both in milk and cheese the EG samples showed an increase in linoleic and rumenic acids. The volatile profile of dairy products was also positively affected by dietary selenium intake, with a decrease in concentration of hexanoic acid, hexanal, heptanal, and an increase in ethyl hexanoate, δ-octalactone, δ-decalactone, 2-heptanone, and 2-nonanone. Such findings could contribute to the production of cheeses with interesting nutritional and organoleptic properties, although further sensorial evaluations should be performed to deeply investigate the consumer acceptability.