Feeding olive cake to ewes improves fatty acid profile of milk and cheese

Olive oil extraction yields a residual cake rich in oil that can be used in animal diets as a source of monounsaturated fat. Milk and cheese from sheep are high in saturated fatty acids (FA) thus, it was hypothesized that supplementing olive cake to lactating ewes would result in naturally enhanced milk and cheese with healthier FA profiles for human consumption. Nine lactating ewes were randomly assigned to a replicated (n = 3) 3 × 3 Latin square design. Diets were supplemented with 0, 10 or 25% of dry olive cake. Except for total solids, dry matter intake, milk yield and milk composition were not affected by dietary treatments. Oleic acid, n-6/n-3 ratio and monounsaturated FA gradually increased (P < 0.05), while saturated FA and atherogenicity index decreased (P < 0.05) in milk and cheese as inclusion of olive cake was increased in dietary treatments. Overall, FA profile of milk and cheese from sheep can be naturally improved by supplementation of olive cake.