## 3 Results and Discussion
### Chemical Composition
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Caciocavallo Cheese**} \\ \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Groups**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**SEM \({}^{1}\)**} & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline
**Item** & **CTR** & **ECO** & & \\ \hline C15:0 & 1.00 & 1.01 & 0.01 & 0.66 \\ C16:0 & 27.93 & 27.85 & 0.003 & 0.83 \\ C17:0 & 0.55 & 0.46 & 0.06 & 0.05 \\ C18:0 & 15.03 & 14.45 & 0.01 & 0.04 \\ C20:0 & 0.94 & 1.04 & 0.03 & 0.51 \\ C21:0 & 0.04 & 0.03 & 0.08 & 0.09 \\ C22:0 & 0.05 & 0.07 & 0.07 & 0.03 \\ C23:0 & 0.04 & 0.05 & 0.09 & 0.04 \\ C24:0 & 0.04 & 0.04 & 0.07 & 0.19 \\ SFA & 71.29 & 69.98 & 0.005 & 0.05 \\ C14:1 & 0.97 & 0.98 & 0.01 & 0.38 \\ C15:1 & 0.21 & 0.28 & 0.07 & 0.05 \\ C16:1 & 1.35 & 1.71 & 0.07 & 0.05 \\ C16:1 trans \({}^{*}\) & 0.01 & 0.01 & 0.000 & 1.00 \\ C16:1 n-5 & 0.01 & 0.01 & 0.000 & 1.00 \\ C17:1 & 0.59 & 0.52 & 0.06 & 0.51 \\ C18:1 cis9 & 16.43 & 18.12 & 0.03 & 0.04 \\ C18:1 trans9 & 1.67 & 0.98 & 0.12 & 0.05 \\ C18:1 cis1 \({}^{*}\) & 2.10 & 2.41 & 0.05 & 0.38 \\ C18:1 trans11 \({}^{*}\) & 0.01 & 0.02 & 0.15 & 0.11 \\ C20:1 n-11 & 0.10 & 0.10 & 0.02 & 0.19 \\ C22:1 n-9 & 0.01 & 0.01 & 0.000 & 1.00 \\ C24:1 n-9 & 0.02 & 0.03 & 0.11 & 0.09 \\ MUFA & 23.48 & 25.19 & 0.02 & 0.03 \\ C16:3 n-4 \({}^{*}\) & 0.01 & 0.01 & 0.000 & 1.00 \\ C18:2 cis9 cis12 & 0.75 & 0.93 & 0.05 & 0.05 \\ C18:2 trans9 trans12 & 0.40 & 0.38 & 0.02 & 0.37 \\ C18:3 cis6 cis9 cis12 & 0.27 & 0.31 & 0.04 & 0.05 \\ C18:3 cis9 cis12 cis15 & 0.41 & 0.43 & 0.04 & 0.83 \\ C20:2 n-6 & 0.05 & 0.05 & 0.05 & 0.19 \\ C20:3 n-6 & 0.06 & 0.04 & 0.07 & 0.07 \\ C20:3 n-3 & 0.01 & 0.01 & 0.000 & 1.00 \\ C20:4 n-6 & 0.02 & 0.03 & 0.16 & 0.09 \\ C20:5 n-3 & 0.06 & 0.07 & 0.08 & 0.09 \\ C22:2 & 0.26 & 0.22 & 0.05 & 0.27 \\ C22:6 n-3 & 0.01 & 0.02 & 0.15 & 0.11 \\ PUFA & 2.30 & 2.50 & 0.02 & 0.05 \\ n3 & 0.48 & 0.53 & 0.03 & 0.12 \\ n6 & 1.55 & 1.74 & 0.03 & 0.05 \\ n6/n3 & 3.22 & 3.30 & 0.03 & 0.83 \\ \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{*}\)Individual standards not included in the mix. \({}^{1}\) SEM (standard error of mean).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: _Cont._fatty acids, which are synthesized entirely \"de novo\" or partially by the mammary gland using rumen-derived acetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate, respectively [31]. Medium-chain fatty acids can increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood if not balanced with appropriate linoleic acid levels [32]. The elevated C18:1 cis9 content in ECO cheeses likely stems from two factors: the high oleic acid content present in olive pomace and the potential conversion of stearic acid to oleic acid in the mammary gland facilitated by delta9-desaturase [33], which is driven by the stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase gene [34], in accordance with [PERSON] et al. [29] and [PERSON] et al. [35] working with sheep, and with [PERSON] et al. [36] working in buffaloes supplemented with olive cake. Similar findings were reported by [PERSON] et al. [37] on milk samples from small ruminants fed with olive pomace, [PERSON] et al. [38] in studies with sheep, and [PERSON] et al. [30], [PERSON] et al. [39], and [PERSON] et al. [12] in studies with dairy cows fed with olive cake. Olive cake supplementation resulted in an increase in total polyphenols in ECO samples of milk and cheese (Tables 1 and 2), corroborating that polyphenols are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract [40]. However, even in the CTR samples, there was a low content of polyphenols. However, the higher amount of polyphenols in ECO cheese and milk reflects the significant amounts of polyphenols present in the OC [41]. It has been well established that these bioactive compounds lead to beneficial effects for human health, as they reduce the formation of free radicals and harmful oxidative events in the metabolism [42].