Nutritional factors influencing improvement of milk and meat quality as well as productive and reproductive parameters of cattle

Abstract

Consumers are becoming more aware of the relationships between diet and health and this has increased consumer interest in the nutritional value of foods. This is impacting on the demand for foods which contain functional components that play important roles in health maintenance and disease prevention. Vitamin E, organically bound selenium and betacarotene are important antioxidant components of animal and human diets, and also unsaturated fatty acids and yeast and their roles in animal and human health and immune function are indispensable. The present review paper will discuss these nutrients in relation to antioxidant and health considerations and draw conclusions as to vitamin and mineral supplementation needs.