Characteristics of Milk and Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese from Cows Fed Extruded Soybeans and Niacin

Abstract

A control diet and three experimental diets were fed to midlactation Holstein cows to evaluate the effects of dietary unsaturated fatty acids and niacin on milk and reduced fat Cheddar cheese. The diet consisted mainly of rolled corn and soybean meal in the concentrate mixture. Experimental diets consisted of the control diet with added niacin and the control diet but with extruded soybeans substituted for part of the corn and soybean meal, with and without added niacin. Milks from cows fed diets of extruded soybean and extruded soybeans with added niacin contained lower concentrations of short- and medium-chain fatty acids and higher concentrations of long-chain fatty acids. Cheese milks consisted of a control, a homogenized control (3.45MPa), and unhomogenized and homogenized milks (3.45MPa) from cows fed extruded soybeans with added niacin. Reduced fat Cheddar cheeses produced from unhomogenized and homogenized milks from the cows fed extruded soybeans with added niacin contained higher concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids. The reduced fat Cheddar cheeses maintained acceptable flavor, body, and texture during storage. Homogenization of cheese milk had little effect on cheese properties. Cheeses manufactured from milks with high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids were softer; however, this difference was not detected by the sensory panel.