Use of front face fluorescence spectroscopy to identify sheep milk from different feeding diets

The present study aimed to determine the potential of front face fluorescence spectroscopy (FFFS) to discriminate between milk samples belonging to Sicilo-Sarde ewes fed with three different feeding groups –named control, scotch bean meal and soybean meal– throughout the lactation stage (11 weeks). Milk samples were classified by factorial discriminant analysis. Similar results were obtained by separately applying factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) on each intrinsic probe [aromatic amino acids and nucleic acids (AAA + NA), tryptophan, vitamin A and riboflavin]. In a second step, concatenation technique was applied to FFF spectra. Results obtained showed a good discrimination among milk samples with regard to lactation periods and diet compositions. These results showed that spectroscopic techniques may provide useful fingerprints and allow the identification of milk samples according to the feeding systems given to the ewes throughout the lactation periods.