Razze autoctone siciliane e prodotti caseari tipici, un binomio da valorizzare

Enhancement of Sicilian autochthonous breeds and their typical dairy products. With regard of the valorization of local Sicilian dairy breeds, the authors focus on some aspects of management based on which to qualify their dairy products, and drive their enhancement and promotion in the market. It is noted the beneficial effects of feeding of local cows on pasture and of the traditional farming system on nutritional and health properties of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese. It is shown, in organic farms and in conventional ones, the possibility to integrate the diet of grazing animals with concentrates based on locally produced grains, safer and less expensive than maize and soybean. It is proposed an out-of-season sheep farming model that, based on out-of-season lambing and nocturnal grazing for attenuating the effects of heat stress, permits to extend the production period in summer, and thus ensures the presence of dairy products on the market. In order to contribute in recovering the Girgentana goat breed, at risk of extinction, it highlights its adaptation to free-housing and to intensive grazing on forage crops, and the good cheese-making aptitude of milk from goats with genotype characterized by strong alleles of αs1-casein.