Assessing the effect of the functional dairy products through the changes in potential health biomarkers

Abstract

Fats and oils are one of the most important components determining the nutritional and technological quality of foods. In dairy products, the different lipid classes and fatty acid (FA) compounds (mono- and poly-unsaturated, cis and trans, conjugated, short- and medium-chain saturated and branched FA, phospholipids, cholesterol, etc.) are potentially involved as positive or negative factors in the health of human consumers. Enhancement of healthy compounds such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) (or their physiological precursor trans-vaccenic acid) and omega-3 FA, phospholipids and reduction of cholesterol and trans FA are promising avenues for improving the FA profiles of dairy foods. Lipid composition of milk fat can be improved both through the diet fed to ruminants by supplying them with oilseeds or PUFA-rich oils or by using probiotic microorganisms with the ability to produce CLA or by incorporating lipid isolates from milk fat globule membrane that contains minor compounds of considerable health value such as phospho- and sphingolipids. In our lab we have developed those three lines of study: 1A) CLA-enriched milk powder reverses hypercholesterolemic risk factors in hamsters. 1B) Cheese with reduced total SFA content and naturally enriched PUFA profile (high omega-3 and CLA) targeted for a healthy functional food development. i) Preclinical evaluation of the physiological effects on healthy Wistar male rats. ii) A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on 62 human overweight/obese and dyslipidemic volunteers. Changes in plasma lipid profile as well as body weight change and body composition had been thoroughly monitorized. 2- Bifidobacterial strains isolated from human breast milk are able to produce CLA and CLNA in reconstituted skim milk-based medium. 3- Skim milk fortified with buttermilk affects the plasma phospholipid and fatty acid composition in healthy subjects.