Do Dairy Products Influence Nutrition?
Agroscope experts headed an international team studying the impact of dairy products on inflammatory responses in the human body. To summarise the conclusions of this study, dairy products – despite stubborn prejudices to the contrary – possess a slight inflammation-inhibiting effect, and people with metabolic disorders in particular could benefit from this food group.
New Methods for Promoting Raw-Milk Quality
Over the past few years, Agroscope has developed various molecular-biological methods (qPCR) enabling the specific, sensitive and rapid detection of undesirable bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus GTB, dairy propionic acid bacteria and Lactobacillus parabuchneri in milk. These methods are transferred to interested organisations and laboratories so that they can be applied without delay in practice, and thereby contribute to the further improvement of milk quality.
Potential Health Benefits of Spinach
Leafy green vegetables are rich in carotenoids. Among these is lutein, the main pigment in the yellow spot of the eye which is therefore linked to a reduction in the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Particle-size reduction and the addition of fat improve lutein accessibility from spinach in vitro, which is the prerequisite for lutein absorp-tion in the gastrointestinal tract. A recently completed inter-vention study to verify these findings in healthy humans and short-bowel patients is under evaluation.
First Metagenome Study of a Raw-Milk Cheese
Researchers from the Agroscope ‘Microbial Biodiversity’ research programme have for the first time gained an insight into the microbial biodiversity of a Tête de Moine cheese through a metagenome study. After extraction of all of the hereditary material from a piece of cheese, parts of the 16S rDNA were sequenced via Ion Torrent PGM. The analysis showed that in addition to the heretofore known and cultivable lactic acid bacteria, a whole range of previously unknown microorganisms are also present in cheese.
