MetaBó-Bainne

The MetaBó-Bainne project is funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and brings together a team of multi-disciplinary scientists to robustly characterise the Irish milk metabolome, and assess the factors affecting its composition such as breed, diet, and seasonality, and to understand the influence these metabolites have on the techno-functional properties of milk that could affect milk processability. This will be achieved through the collection and examination of milk samples from a series of farms and supermarkets throughout the season, and experiments examining treatment effects on milk composition and methane emissions, which will offer important insights for the development of tools for prediction of milk processability and sustainability. Harnessing the data collected throughout this study, the MetaBó-Bainne project aims to develop the “Irish Milk Metabolome Database”, an open access online database with metabolites found in Irish milk; their range, and a list of factors that have been demonstrated to affect their composition. This database will serve as an important point of reference for future research, troubleshooting on farm or in-process issues, and for authenticity of Irish milk and dairy products.