Terpenes transfer to milk and cheese after oral administration to sheep fed indoors

Abstract

Terpenes have been proposed as potential biomarkers in verifying the diets of grazing animals. A study of the relationships between the intake of terpenes and their presence in animal tissues (blood and milk) as well as in the final product (cheese) was conducted. Eight dairy sheep were divided into two equal groups, representing control (C) and treatment group (T). In T group oral administration of a mixture of terpenes, α-pinene, limonene and β-caryophyllene, was applied over a period of 18 days. Blood and milk samples were collected regularly and terpenes were identified by extraction using petroleum ether and the solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) method, respectively, followed by GC-MS analysis. Cheese was produced, from C and T animals separately, twice during the period of terpenes oral administration. Terpenes contents and chemical properties of the produced cheeses were investigated. Limonene and α-pinene were found in all blood and milk samples of the T group after a lag-phase of 2 days, while β-caryophyllene was detected in few plasma samples and in all milk samples. None of the terpenes was traced in blood and milk of C animals. The contents of cheese, in dosed terpenes, presented a more complicated pattern suggesting terpenes non-credible as biomarkers. We conclude terpenes can be used as biomarkers for authentification of ewes' milk, but further research is required on factors affecting their transfer to dairy products from grazing diets.

Recent analyses using solid phase microextraction in industries related to food made into or from liquids

“…SPME analyses of terpenoids were used to classify the regions or diet of the animal (Abilleira et al, 2010;CaisSokoli nska & Majcher, 2010;Erkaya & Ş engül, 2011;Fernández-García, Imhof, Schlichtherle-Cerny, Bosset, & Nuñez, 2008;Majcher et al, 2010). For example, SPME analyses of sheep milk and associated dairy products found terpenoids could be used as biomarkers to understand sheep diet when milk was investigated but not cheese (Poulopoulou et al, 2011). However, terpenes were highlighted as being difficult to analyze in milk using SPME due to matrix effects of the milk fat resulting in different terpene classes having different vapor pressures (i.e.…”

“…2). At least 22,000 terpenoids are known, mostly produced by plants (Poulopoulou, Zoidis, Massouras, & Hadjigeorgiou, 2011). Two common sub-classes of terpenes were usually identified by SPME techniques with the monoterpenes consisting of two isoprene units, and sesquiterpenes, consisting of three units.…”

Transfer of Orally Administered Terpenes in Goat Milk and Cheese

“…The concentrations of terpenes in milk were determined using the solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) method and a GC-MS analyzer according to the method described by Poulopoulou et al (2011).…”

Scientific Opinion on the safety and efficacy of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (chemical group 31) when used as flavourings for all animal species

“…The three compounds were absorbed, as evidenced by their presence in blood, and excreted in milk, limonene being the most abundant (Poulopoulou et al, 2012a). The concentration of limonene in milk increased until the seventh day (18 µg/mL), decreasing thereafter, being about 5 µg/mL at the end of the trial.…”

“…For this reason, the potential increase in daily limonene intake attributable to consumption of milk from treated animals (limonene in sheep milk: 5 mg/L after 18 days of oral administration of 1 g limonene/day; Poulopoulou et al, 2012a) was estimated for high consumers (chronic intake by adults: 1.5 L milk;EFSA, 2011). This estimate gives a value of 7.5 mg/person per day.…”