Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy

Milk is one of the most important foods in the human diet. Its composition and quality may be compromised by bovine mastitis, which is currently the most serious disease affecting dairy cows due to its economic and productive impact. Subclinical bovine mastitis (SBM) is particularly problematic due...

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Main Authors: Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández, Nieves Núñez-Sánchez, Silvia Molina-Gay, Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez, Fernando Cardoso-Toset
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Applied Food Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502224002610
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author Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández
Nieves Núñez-Sánchez
Silvia Molina-Gay
Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez
Fernando Cardoso-Toset
author_facet Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández
Nieves Núñez-Sánchez
Silvia Molina-Gay
Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez
Fernando Cardoso-Toset
author_sort Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández
collection DOAJ
description Milk is one of the most important foods in the human diet. Its composition and quality may be compromised by bovine mastitis, which is currently the most serious disease affecting dairy cows due to its economic and productive impact. Subclinical bovine mastitis (SBM) is particularly problematic due to no obvious visible symptoms, which hamper the current diagnosis and lead to an underestimation of its impact. Since mastitis is the primary reason for antibiotic use in dairy production, there is a growing focus on a selective therapy, based on the management of the disease by treating only those cases that will benefit from antibiotics. However, the discrimination of these cases remains a major challenge. The objective of this study was to evaluate near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis of milk samples as a screening method to discriminate SBM aetiology and promote pathogen-based therapy using predictive models. Individual milk samples from 101 Holstein-Friesian cows across 29 herds were collected, subjected to somatic cell count, microbiological culture, and biochemical tests to identify the bacterial species involved. Subsequently, these samples were analysed by NIRS, and the resulting spectral information was used to design different predictive models. Notable differences were noticed among the spectra of the groups compared. The model classification or prediction success ranged from 85.71 % to 95.24 %, with high sensitivity (88.89–100 %) and specificity (81.82–90.91 %). These preliminary data highlight the usefulness of spectral information obtained from NIRS analysis of milk. The proposed approach holds potential as a screening methodology to provide a fast diagnostic result of SBM and promote a pathogen-based therapy to prevent milk quality losses and public health issues. Increasing sample variability in future studies is considered of paramount importance to achieve reliable performance of predictive models.
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spelling doaj-art-0051edda55aa4bb1ba45140f3a2a69f42025-08-20T02:39:52ZengElsevierApplied Food Research2772-50222025-06-015110065110.1016/j.afres.2024.100651Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapyPablo Rodríguez-Hernández0Nieves Núñez-Sánchez1Silvia Molina-Gay2Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez3Fernando Cardoso-Toset4Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, Spain; Corresponding author at: Full postal address: Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, Spain.Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, SpainDepartamento I+D+i, Centro de Investigación y Calidad Agroalimentaria del Valle de los Pedroches - CICAP, Pozoblanco, 14400, Córdoba, SpainDepartamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, Spain; Corresponding author at: Full postal address: Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, Spain.Departamento I+D+i, Centro de Investigación y Calidad Agroalimentaria del Valle de los Pedroches - CICAP, Pozoblanco, 14400, Córdoba, SpainMilk is one of the most important foods in the human diet. Its composition and quality may be compromised by bovine mastitis, which is currently the most serious disease affecting dairy cows due to its economic and productive impact. Subclinical bovine mastitis (SBM) is particularly problematic due to no obvious visible symptoms, which hamper the current diagnosis and lead to an underestimation of its impact. Since mastitis is the primary reason for antibiotic use in dairy production, there is a growing focus on a selective therapy, based on the management of the disease by treating only those cases that will benefit from antibiotics. However, the discrimination of these cases remains a major challenge. The objective of this study was to evaluate near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis of milk samples as a screening method to discriminate SBM aetiology and promote pathogen-based therapy using predictive models. Individual milk samples from 101 Holstein-Friesian cows across 29 herds were collected, subjected to somatic cell count, microbiological culture, and biochemical tests to identify the bacterial species involved. Subsequently, these samples were analysed by NIRS, and the resulting spectral information was used to design different predictive models. Notable differences were noticed among the spectra of the groups compared. The model classification or prediction success ranged from 85.71 % to 95.24 %, with high sensitivity (88.89–100 %) and specificity (81.82–90.91 %). These preliminary data highlight the usefulness of spectral information obtained from NIRS analysis of milk. The proposed approach holds potential as a screening methodology to provide a fast diagnostic result of SBM and promote a pathogen-based therapy to prevent milk quality losses and public health issues. Increasing sample variability in future studies is considered of paramount importance to achieve reliable performance of predictive models.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502224002610MilkFood safetyBovine subclinical mastitisSpectral analysisAntibiotic managementSelective therapy
spellingShingle Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández
Nieves Núñez-Sánchez
Silvia Molina-Gay
Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez
Fernando Cardoso-Toset
Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
Applied Food Research
Milk
Food safety
Bovine subclinical mastitis
Spectral analysis
Antibiotic management
Selective therapy
title Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
title_full Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
title_fullStr Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
title_full_unstemmed Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
title_short Near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen-based therapy
title_sort near infrared spectroscopy analysis as a screening tool to classify milk from bovine subclinical mastitis and promote pathogen based therapy
topic Milk
Food safety
Bovine subclinical mastitis
Spectral analysis
Antibiotic management
Selective therapy
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502224002610
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