Effect of Camelina sativa cake and Cynara cardunculus supplements on goat milk functional quality

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Camelina sativa cake (Came) and Cynara cardunculus (Cardoon) supplementation on total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (AOC) and metabolomics profile of goats milk. Eighteen multiparous and primiparous Alpine goats were randomly assigned to three homogenous groups: Came (n=6) receiving 200 g/day of Came, Cardoon (n=6) receiving 200 g/day of Cardoon and control (CT, n=6) receiving the standard diet. The supplementation lasted 21 days. Milk samples and rumen content were collected at d 0 (before supplementation), and 21 for analyses. Milk production and composition were assessed weekly. Milk collected at d21 was in vitro digested and further analysed for the TPC using Folin-Ciocalteu assay (mg Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE)/l) and for AOC (μmol Trolox Equivalent (TE) /ml) by ABTS assay. Data were analysed by one-way ANOVA using GraphPad, Prism. Milk samples collected at d 21 were also analysed by 1H NMR spectroscopy operating at 600 MHz. Metabolomic data were processed by the R (ChemoSpec package) and MetaboAnalyst programs and subjected to partial least square–discriminant analysis to detect differences in the metabolome before and after Came and Cardoon supplementation in the same animals. Results showed that Came and Cardoon milk showed higher (P<0.05) TPC (22.96±6.76 and 32.49±2.08 mg GAE/l) and AOC (207.9±4.25 and 195.4±26.66 μmol TE/ml) compared with CT milk. Metabolomic profile of milk was affected by the experimental day (i.e. d 0 vs 21). Compared to the CT milk, uridine, ethanolamine, hippurate and citrate decreased, whereas lactate, alanine, methionine and choline increased in Came and Cardoon milk. In conclusion, feeding dairy goats with both Came and Cardoon resulted in changes in milk TPC and AOX activities as well as modifications in the milk metabolomic profile.