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High trimethylamine concentration in milk from cows on standard diets is expressed as fishy off-flavour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2002

ANNE LUNDÉN
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7023, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
VICTORIA GUSTAFSSON
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7023, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
MIROSLAVA IMHOF
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station, Liebefeld, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
ROLAND GAUCH
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station, Liebefeld, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
JACQUES-OLIVIER BOSSET
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station, Liebefeld, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Abstract

To establish whether fishy off-flavour observed in cows' milk in Sweden is due to abnormal concentrations of trimethylamine (TMA) in milk, 15 milk samples from 13 cows of the Swedish Red and White breed (SRB) were analysed for this compound using dynamic headspace (DHS) gas chromatography (GC). A mass selective detector (MSD) was used for the qualitative and a flame ionization detector (FID) for the quantitative analyses. Further confirmation was obtained using a solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by GC-olfactometry (GC-O) and GC-NPD (nitrogen and phosphorus detector). Samples were also evaluated by a two-person organoleptic panel for the presence of fishy off-flavour. Results showed that the seven milk samples with a fish-like taint contained >1 mg TMA/kg milk, whereas, with a single exception, the seven samples that were judged to be normal did not contain this compound. Furthermore, there were indications of a dose-dependent relationship between TMA concentration and fishy off-flavour score.

Type
Original article
Copyright
Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2002

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