Metabolic profiling of bovine colostrum: unravelling the influences of diet and seasonality on functional dairy components

Bovine colostrum-based functional foods are gaining recognition for their potential beneficial roles in human health. However, while macronutrient variability has been extensively studied, the impact of seasonality and diet on bioactive metabolome profile of colostrum remains poorly understood. This study employs UHPLC-HRMS to characterize the metabolic profile of colostrum from dairy cows, calving in autumn or spring under distinct environmental and dietary conditions. An untargeted metabolomic analysis demonstrated distinct seasonal variations, with autumn-derived colostrum exhibiting a two-fold increase in 22 metabolites, including phospholipids, bioactive peptides, organic acids, and nucleotides. Glycyl aspartate and D-erythro-imidazole-glycerol-phosphate emerged as key biomarkers distinguishing seasonality of colostrum. Pre-partum diet and environmental temperature were correlated with metabolic differences, whereas parity and genetic merit, represented by the economic breeding index, had minimal influence. These findings highlight the impact of seasonality on the colostrum metabolome, providing novel insights for the future development of colostrum-based functional foods. • Seasonality influences colostrum metabolome, potentially impacting the bioactivity. • Pasture-fed colostrum had double the concentration of 22 bioactives • Glycyl aspartate & D-erythro-imidazole-glycerol-phosphate are seasonal biomarkers. • Diet and environment drive metabolic shift; parity and EBI had little impact.