MINOR AND TRACE-ELEMENT CONTENT IN SHEEP AND GOAT MILK AND DAIRY-PRODUCTS

The concentration ranges of certain health-related elements in milk an d cheese are closely dependent upon animal species and feeding, time o f year of sample collection, environmental conditions and manufacturin g processes. The present study deals with the assessment of selected t race elements such as Al, Pa, Cd. Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Pt, Sr and Zn in sheep and goat milk as well as in typical cheese, and con cludes a series of studies previously carried out on cow's milk and re lated products. Samples of milk, curd and cheese following salting and after ripening for 1, 4 and 8 weeks were analysed. Quantitative deter minations were performed mainly by inductively coupled plasma atomic e mission spectrometry. The results obtained show considerable differenc es among the trace element contents of sheep and goat milk and related products. Furthermore, significant differences were also found when c omparing the present data on sheep and goat milk with those previously obtained for cow's milk. This sheds further light on the influence of animal species; feeding characteristics and environmental conditions on the distribution of trace elements in dairy products. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd