Effects of dietary antioxidant supplementation in cow’s feed, milk processing and storage on lutein content and sensory quality

Authors: WANG, CONG - Zhejiang University; LIU, JIANXIN - Kemin Industries, Inc; DUAN, ZHIYONG - Kemin Industries, Inc; LAO, YE - Kemin Industries, Inc; Qi, Phoebe; REN, DAXI - Zhejiang University

Submitted to: International Journal of Dairy Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2018
Publication Date: 5/2/2018
Citation: Wang, C., Liu, J., Duan, Z., Lao, Y., Qi, P.X., Ren, D. 2018. Effects of dietary antioxidant supplementation in cow’s feed, milk processing and storage on lutein content and sensory quality. International Journal of Dairy Technology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0307.12532.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0307.12532

Interpretive Summary: Lutein is the second-most abundant carotenoid in the human body, and accumulates mainly in the macula, which is responsible for visual acuity. It cannot be produced by animals. The richest sources of lutein include dark green leafy vegetables. However, lutein is highly sensitive to light, heat and oxygen, which limits its uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In addition to being a food source essential to human health, milk can act as a delivery vehicle for many micronutrients such as lutein. In this work, we supplemented lutein with and without the commonly used antioxidants, vitamin E, tea polyphenols and ethoxyquin in cow’s feed. The results showed that the diet containing lutein plus vitamin E produced milk with high lutein content and exceptional resistance to high-heat processing and storage time. Furthermore, the supplementation used in this work did not cause significant changes in the sensory properties of the milk. This work is important because it provides a viable and effective approach to increase lutein content and stability by using a natural media, milk, hence improved bioaccesibility and bioavailability of lutein is expected.

Technical Abstract: In this work, we studied the lutein content in milk as affected by lutein supplementation in the absence and presence of common antioxidants, vitamin E (Vit E), tea polyphenols (TP) and ethoxyquin (EQ) in cow’s feed, and by subsequent pasteurization (HTST and UHT) and storage. Results showed that lutein supplementation at 4 g/d per head significantly increased the lutein level in the milk by 53-88%, compared to the basal diet. Among the formulations used, the lutein plus Vit E was the most effective, the lutein plus TP was moderate, and the lutein plus EQ was adverse at improving the lutein content relative to the lutein only supplementation. The co-supplementation of the antioxidant also mitigated the lutein loss caused by UHT processing and storage. This work demonstrated that the Vit E plus lutein feed produced milk with high lutein content, and superior ability to resist heat-induced lutein loss and sensory changes.