Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) conservation in Serbia is under an in situ program, but additional efforts are needed to ensure the development of this animal’s genetic resources biodiversity. This research aims to describe challenges and possible strategies for sustainable water buffalo milk production. In this study, the physicochemical characteristics of buffalo milk and buffalo dairy products (cheese, butter, and kajmak) were determined. Furthermore, amino and fatty acids composition and the related health lipid indices (atherogenic and thrombogenic) were assessed. The findings support the fact that buffalo milk is a reliable source of high-quality nutrients (dry matter: 16.10%, fat: 6.02%, protein: 4.61%). Leucine, lysine, and valine content were found to be high in buffalo milk and cheese. A substantial quantity of non-essential glutamic and aspartic amino acids was observed in milk, as well as glutamic acid and tyrosine in cheese. It was established that milk protein of buffalo cheese had a favorable proportion of essential and non-essential amino acids (61.76%/38.24%). The results revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in fatty acid profiles among the three dairy products for saturated short-chain, n-3, and n-6 fatty acids. Conversely, no significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in monounsaturated fatty acids content. Kajmak showed the most favorable anti-atherogenic and anti-thrombogenic properties due to lower saturated and higher polyunsaturated fatty acid content. These results confirmed that buffalo milk could be successfully used in producing high-quality traditional dairy products with added value and beneficial characteristics from the aspect of a healthy diet. Furthermore, it could actively contribute to the promotion of sustainable production of buffaloes and strengthen the agricultural production of rural areas and their heritage.

Technology of hard goat cheese and whey production from organic goat's milk is very complex and must be harmonized with the methods and guidelines of organic production. The organic goat cheeses are declared as products of higher quality, with greater or added value, and to achieve this, all technological parameters of production must be controlled and adapted to the desired type of cheese. In this study chemical analyses of the composition of organic and conventional goat's milk, cheese and whey were performed. Cheese fatty acids profile was determined by gas chromatograph (GC) with FID detector, while for detection of amino acids was used HPLC method with fluorescence detection. Data obtained in the study were analyzed using Statistica 9.0 software package and significant differences were determined using t-test. Based on the results, organic milk was statistically significantly higher in all components, except in ash and sodium (p<0.05, p<0.01). Contrary, cheeses (aged 4 days) did not show significant differences (p<0.05, p<0.01), except for dry matter and lactose. During ripening of organic cheese the contents of threonine, tyrosine, valine and isoleucine decreased, whereas methionine, phenylalanine and lysine, showed a tendency to increase. Saturated fatty acids were mainly represented with myristic, palmitic and stearic acids while oleic acid was dominant as unsaturated FA. Organic whey samples contained significantly more protein (1.43 % versus 0.52 %, p<0.05, p<0.01). The application of organic standards of manufacture and control of all technological parameters in the production of organic hard goat cheese and whey resulted in obtaining a high-quality products.

This study presents the results of a survey conducted in the Province of Vojvodina, Serbia to investigate consumers’ attitudes towards goat milk and goat milk products. Furthermore, the factors affecting consumer perception and subjective norms with respect to purchase were examined. The quantitative random survey was conducted and the data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The findings from this study revealed significantly lower acceptance of goat milk and dairy products compared to bovine milk and dairy products. Of total 440 respondents, 24.2 % had never consumed goat milk with significant positive impact (p&lt;0.05) of age on consumption was found. Among, respondents, mostly the young population (18-25 years) does not consume goat milk. The study identified the odour (42.3 %) and taste (22.5 %) as the main barriers for consuming goat milk. In regard to purchasing, more than half of interviewed respondents do not buy goat milk and dairy products (67 % and 70.5 %, respectively) while the rest respondents expressed very low purchasing frequency. Health benefits represent the most important reason for potential consuming goat milk and dairy products (66.5 %). On the other hand, the main motives for purchasing bovine milk and dairy products are taste and quality (55.5 %). In particular, the oldest surveyed population (40-55 years) seemed to be the most positive group toward goat milk and the most interested in the product’s nutritional value and its health impact. The main category of goat dairy products purchased among surveyed respondents was cheese. These findings suggest that for better positioning on the market and for producing price-competitive products goat milk and dairy products should be more clarified as either quality products or products with added value or as products with unique health benefits.

This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional quality of two types of cheese prepared from bovine whey: Urda and Ricotta. Cheeses were examined for chemical parameters and their amino acids profile was determined. The results revealed that the chemical composition of the observed whey cheeses was highly significantly different (p<0.01) from each other. The amounts of dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, ash and salt were higher in Ricotta compared with Urda cheese samples. On the other hand, Urda contained more moisture, fat on a dry matter basis and moisture on a fat-free basis (79.59%, 27.50%, 84.27% versus 69.82%, 21.02%, 74.56%, respectively). Especially higher yield, salt in moisture content and energy values were observed in Ricotta cheese (5.93%, 3.12%, 145.99Kcal/100g versus 4.39%, 2.40%, 108.97Kcal/100g; Ricotta and Urda, respectively). Whey cheeses are a particularly good source of amino acids containing approximately - Ricotta: leucine (1.60g/100g), lysine (1.17g/100g), phenylalanine (0.78g/100g) and followed by threonine (0.77g/100g), while Urda contained leucine (0.80g/100g), lysine (0.45g/100g), threonine (0.68g/100g) and phenylalanine (0.31g/100g). Both cheese varieties contained glutamic and aspartic acid as the predominant non-essential amino acids (Ricotta: 3.91g/100g and 1.68g/100g versus Urda: 1.65g/100g and 0.80g/100g, respectively). Generally, from a nutritional point of view, the investigated whey cheeses could be considered as cheeses with low salt and fat content, as well as cheeses particularly abundant in branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine). These results also emphasize their advantages as products that present a cost-effective way of dealing with whey as waste material.

Organic cheeses are value added products that provide small dairy farmers with a viable source of income and has the potential to revitalize farms, provide new jobs, and develop new cheese varieties with unique flavours for consumers to experience. Production of hard organic cheese must comply with organic standards and regulations of organic production. Whole organic milk that does not contain residues of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics represents a quality raw material for hard organic cheese with added value. Together with the existing, producers develop and create new technologies and new branded products which are more original and recognizable. The goal of any technology is obtaining technologically reproducible protocol and constant uniform quality of the cheese with desired properties. In this paper some variables which influence quality of organic hard cheese were investigated. Tested samples of hard organic cheese from different production time showed consistent quality and obtained parameters followed the standards of full-fat hard cheeses. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 31095]