Fatty acid composition and conjugated linoleic acid content of cheeses produced with goat milk

In this study, approximate compositions, fatty acid (FA) composition and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of commercial cheeses (n=13) produced predominantly with goat milk in Turkey were determined. FA compositions of cheeses were similar. Major short and medium chain FAs in cheese samples included butyric, caproic and caprylic acids, respectively, according to their relative presence rates. Palmitic, oleic, myristic, stearic, lauric, linoleic and palmitoleic acids were found as the major long chain FAs in all cheese samples while palmitic, myristic and stearic acids were the major saturated FAs in a decreasing order. Palmitic acid was the major FA in cheeses while oleic acid was the dominant unsaturated FA. The ratio of lauric to capric acid was lower than 0.78 in all cheese samples. The range for the total CLA contents of cheese samples was from 1.79 to 4.83 mg/g fat. The highest CLA content was determined in a white cheese sample produced by a mixture of goat (70%) and cow (30%) milk while the lowest value was detected in an Ezine cheese sample produced by a mixture of goat (50%), sheep (45%) and cow (5%) milk. Especially, two white cheeses with a high CLA content could significantly contribute to the daily CLA intake of consumers. Results indicated that commercial cheese samples produced in Turkey had a high variability in their CLA contents.