title: Effect of somatic cell counts on ewes' milk protein profile and cheese-making properties in different sheep breeds reared in Spain.
abstract: Bulk tank ewe's milks from Assaf, Castellana and Churra breeds categorized within three different Somatic Cell Count (SCC) groups (LSCC: <500,000; MSCC: 1,000,000 to 1,500,000; and HSCC: 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 cells ml-1) were used to investigate changes in capillary electrophoresis protein profiles and cheese-making properties. The results do not reveal a significant effect of SCC on total casein contents, because the sum of beta-caseins decreased as SCC increased; no statistically significant differences were observed for the sum of alpha-caseins, and the values of kappa-casein were higher in the HSCC milk. However, the soluble proteins other than alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin increased with SCC. Regarding the effect of breed, the Assaf breed had the lowest contents of kappa-CN, alpha s1-I-CN, alpha s1-II-CN 1-CN, alpha s1-III-CN, beta1-CN and beta2-CN. The protein profile was significantly correlated with curd textural properties. alpha s1-I-CN was the most influential variant because it was positively correlated with a large number of textural parameters. Cheese yield was positively correlated with all casein variants except alpha s1-III-CN, showing that the milk from local breeds were more suitable for cheese-making due to their higher contents of all the casein variants. Regarding curd texture properties LSCC milk curds showed more cohesiveness, associated with its lower content of alpha s1-III-CN and Castellana milk curds showed the highest values for firmness owing to their higher content of alpha s1-I-CN.
authors.affiliation: Food Technology Area, Universidad de Salamanca, E.P.S. de Zamora. Avda. Requejo 33, 49022, Zamora, Spain. irevilla@usal.es
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Revilla
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Nogales
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vivar-Quintana
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002364:Caseins / Q000032:analysis; D002611:Cheese; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling; D008413:Mastitis / Q000662:veterinary; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology*; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D012756:Sheep / Q000235:genetics*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D002364:Caseins; D008894:Milk Proteins