Abstract
Cow milk microbiota has received increased attention in recent years, not only because of its importance for human health but also because of its effect on the quality and technological properties of milk. Several studies, therefore, have investigated the effect of various production factors on the microbial composition of milk. However, most of the previous studies considered a limited number of animals from experimental or single farm, which could have biased the results. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the effect of different alpine production systems on the compositional and microbiological quality of milk, considering commercial herds with different feeding intensities and cattle breeds. The results obtained in this work indicated that the month/season of sampling (July for summer or February for winter) more than farm, breed and cow diet exerted significant effects on cow milk parameters and microbiota. In particular, significant differences were observed for urea content in milk between sampling seasons. Differences in milk fat were mainly related to breed specific effects. From a microbiological point of view, statistically significant differences were found in presumptive lactic acid bacteria counts. Based on a culture-independent method, milk obtained in February harbored the highest number of Firmicutes (e.g., Lactobacillus) and the lowest number of Actinobacteria (e.g., Corynebacterium). Moreover, bacterial richness and diversity were higher in July/summer during alpine pasture season indicating a significant effect of pasture feed on the growth of bacterial communities. The results of this study highlighted the effect of month/season mainly related to differences in feeding management (e.g., access to pasture during vegetation period, concentrates supplementation) on composition and microbiota in milk.