Physico-chemical, sensory and oxidative quality of butter from cows fed 3-nitrooxypropanol

This study aims to investigate the effects of supplementing 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) to the diet of dairy cows on physico-chemical and sensory properties, as well as oxidative stability of butter. Fortyeight Danish Holstein cows were randomly assigned to control diets or 3-NOP supplemented diets at 60 mg 3-NOP kg-1 feed DM. Compared to control butter, 3-NOP butter had higher proportions of shortand medium-chain fatty acids (FAs) and lower solid fat content, onset crystallization and offset melting temperatures. Sensory analysis revealed minor differences between 3-NOP and control butter, while peroxide values of 3-NOP butter was lower than control butter during storage of 12 weeks. In conclusion, the alterations in FA composition by 3-NOP led to minor changes in physical properties but improved oxidative stability of butter without major changes in sensory characteristics. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).