Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 ----- Original Message ----- From: " Food From Afar " <foodfromafar@...> < > Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 8:49 PM Subject: White goat butter > My understanding is that goats turn beta carotene into vit. A, so their milk > and cream is white. White goat butter is just as nutritious. I was just thinking about this when reading the earlier posts in this thread, and I got to thinking--could that be a factor in the varying colors of cow butter? If goats convert carotene to vitamin A more thoroughly than cows do, are there certain breeds of cows that do a better job of it than others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 >>> > My understanding is that goats turn beta carotene into vit. A, so their milk > and cream is white. White goat butter is just as nutritious. >>>>>I was just thinking about this when reading the earlier posts in this thread, and I got to thinking--could that be a factor in the varying colors of cow butter? If goats convert carotene to vitamin A more thoroughly than cows do, are there certain breeds of cows that do a better job of it than others? ***Interesting question... I have a PDF article of a study called " A Survey of Serum and Dietary Carotenoids in Captive Wild Animals " in which a variety of *species* were tested for circulating carotenoid levels. There are definitely differences in plasma levels between species depending on amounts fed, but interestingly, in this study of zoo animals, the wisent (European bisson) had the highest beta carotene plasma level of all mammals tested. (It appears they were fed pellets enriched with carotenoids, in addition to hay (4.8-5.3 mg/kg beta carotene), so I wonder if beta carotene from young grass (as a more natural source) might result in even higher plasma and tissue levels.) Also, the authors note that domestic bovids sampled by et al. in 1991 had more than double the beta carotene level than the banteng and wisent in this study. the authors speculate they may have had " considerabel fresh grass " in their diet. The authors note that many of the hooved animals (mainly Artiodachyla) in their zoo study were not as closely related to bovines as they are to to goat and sheep. Then they state " Goasts do not have carotenoids in their blood or tissue (Goodwin anad 1948). " They also say that sheep usually have low levels of carotenoids in blood and tissue and that Goodwin and suggest that's because it's converted to vit A. So, it seems the white butter from goat's milk may indeed mean that the beta carotene has been converted to vit A, whereas cows tend to have much more bc circulating in blood and tissue, which, I imagine, would also end up in their milk. Suze Fisher Web Design & Development http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/ mailto:s.fisher22@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 In a message dated 4/25/2002 12:49:42 PM Central Daylight Time, r_rom@... writes: > > Well, then we shouldn't use color of butter as a > criterion for judging its quality, should we? I > learned from WAPF that yellow color is a good sign. > But now it seems that it isn't necessarily so. On the > other hand, yellow color indicates that cows were > grass-fed (and therefore, contain the X-factor)... > unless they were supplemented with beta-carotene or > some other coloring agent. > > Roman That's what I was getting at by asking the question. Goat's milk white. If butter must be bright yellow to be good that would leave goat's butter out of the running. Didn't think this was true. Seems to me any animals on graze or browse would be giving us healthy products no matter what the color. Belinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 > I was just thinking about this when reading the earlier posts in this > thread, and I got to thinking--could that be a factor in the varying colors > of cow butter? If goats convert carotene to vitamin A more thoroughly than > cows do, are there certain breeds of cows that do a better job of it than > others? Yes there are. Almost all cattle do a more thorough job of converting to vit A than guernseys do. Cream from guernseys on the same pasture as other breeds will almost always be much more yellow. In fact, the milk itself can be yellow. I don't know for sure that there is variation among the other breeds, but I would certainly expect there to be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 Well, then we shouldn't use color of butter as a criterion for judging its quality, should we? I learned from WAPF that yellow color is a good sign. But now it seems that it isn't necessarily so. On the other hand, yellow color indicates that cows were grass-fed (and therefore, contain the X-factor)... unless they were supplemented with beta-carotene or some other coloring agent. Roman --- Kroyer <skroyer@...> wrote: > > I was just thinking about this when reading the > earlier posts in this > > thread, and I got to thinking--could that be a > factor in the varying > colors > > of cow butter? If goats convert carotene to > vitamin A more thoroughly than > > cows do, are there certain breeds of cows that do > a better job of it than > > others? > > Yes there are. Almost all cattle do a more thorough > job of converting to > vit A than guernseys do. Cream from guernseys on > the same pasture as other > breeds will almost always be much more yellow. In > fact, the milk itself can > be yellow. I don't know for sure that there is > variation among the other > breeds, but I would certainly expect there to be... > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 >From: Roman <r_rom@...> >Well, then we shouldn't use color of butter as a >criterion for judging its quality, should we? I >learned from WAPF that yellow color is a good sign. >But now it seems that it isn't necessarily so. On the >other hand, yellow color indicates that cows were >grass-fed (and therefore, contain the X-factor)... >unless they were supplemented with beta-carotene or >some other coloring agent. What is the Price Factor/Activator X, anyway? Is there another name for it? What is its chemical structure? I once read something which claimed that it was just beta carotene--is there any truth to this? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 <<< and I got to thinking--could that be a factor in the varying colors of cow butter? If goats convert carotene to vitamin A more thoroughly than cows do, are there certain breeds of cows that do a better job of it than others? >>> Yes, certain breeds do a better job of converting carotene into Vitamin A than others. Jerseys are a prime example of that. They are one of the breeds that do not convert carotene to A as well as some other breeds. I don't have my reference book handy to give more examples of different breeds, but if you are interested I can perhaps find some more info on this. Carmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 > What is the Price Factor/Activator X, anyway? > Is there another name for it? What is its chemical structure? > I once read something which claimed that it > was just beta carotene--is there any truth to this? Hi : Question #1. In 1926 Yoder developed a chemical test for antirachitic properties. Since vitamin D cured rickets, it was assumed that Yoder's chemical test was measuring vitamin D. In working with this chemical test, which he took to be a test for vitamin D, after a time Price found the test was measuring a broader nutritional factor than simply vitamin D. Question #2. To distinguish the nutritional factor measured by Yoder's chemical test for antirachitic properties from vitamin D, Price called it activator X. Question #3. Price did not determine the chemical structure of the substance that Yoder's chemical test measured. For that matter, Yoder likely didn't either. Question #4. No. Price never stated that the presence of activator X in the butter was the cause of the yellow color. Some people aren't too bright. Chi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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