## 4 Discussion
For instance, a study from Spain reported that the content of \(\alpha\)-TOC and \(\alpha\)-tocotrienol are affected by the pasture habits of the animals, whereas CARs are not affected [40]. In a similar Sicilian study [41], the semi-extensive program (including grazing) was expectedly related to an enhancement of TOCs and CARs content with respect to intensive (no grazing) breeding. Therefore, it seems evident that the content of carotenoids and vitamin E included in green forages and quality pastures represents a crucial factor affecting antioxidant levels in cheese. These references, together with knowledge of bovine metabolism [37], allowed us to draw some conclusions about the data collected and shown in Tables 1 and 2 and Figures 1 and 2. We considered all 56 analyzed samples to evaluate the remarkable seasonal influence on the antioxidant composition (Figure 1); it looks clear that TOCs are enhanced in spring cheeses with special regard to the \(\alpha\)-TOC. From the loadings observation (vectorial variables) in Figure 1, it turns out that (a) the seasonal increase of CARs lutein and \(\beta\)-carotene is less pronounced with respect to the TOCs jumps and (b) the \(\alpha\)-carotene follows an opposite correlation being the winter samples those with the highest levels of this metabolite. The enhancement of antioxidants in spring cheese with respect to the winter product is easily explained by the total grass-based cattle diet providing more antioxidants. On the contrary, in winter, the cattle diet needs to be integrated with hay, which is decreasing the \"green\" feeding, still featured by the early stage of grass not yet enriched in TOCs. The hay is produced after cropping, collecting, and drying fresh plants in bales, so it is expected to show a remarkable decrease in vitamins [42] and antioxidants [43] due to degradation and photo-oxidation; these statements support our records. The highest increase of \(\alpha\)-TOC levels is explained by the enhancement of photosynthetic tissues in leaves with high \(\alpha\)-TOC content [44], which is known to decrease with plant aging. The second most evident enhancement concerns \(\gamma\)-TOC; this information is consistent with the high \(\gamma\)-TOC present in plant flowers and seeds. Therefore, \(\gamma\)-TOC enhancement in spring products shows a pasture shift from the vegetative to reproductive stage [44]. The moderate enhancement of \(\beta\)-carotene and lutein in \"Ragusano\" obtained in spring is a crucial record which can be traced back to the quality of green pasture. On the other hand, the reduced carotenoid content of cheeses manufactured during the winter season testifies to the limited grazing and consequent drop of CARs in forage, as also evidenced by previous studies [35]. These data should be related to the animal metabolism, as it was already noticed that \(\beta\)-carotene conversion into retinol is also related to the animal genotype [37]; however, the knowledge about _Modicana_ cows is still too limited to draw definite comparisons and conclusions. The \(\alpha\)-CAR behavior could seem somewhat unexpected, judging from the general trend; however, we highlight that this metabolite is the least represented among the six analytes (absolute quantities) and is probably less stable under the studied conditions. Thus, the real changes are not dramatic and can reasonably be caused by the easy degradation of \(\alpha\)-CAR during the production at higher temperatures in spring. The intra-season analyses showed a general enhancement of TOCs after any pasture condition; this is expected since cattle were fed a controlled diet, with grazing adding \"green\" forage. However, the winter samples recorded a remarkable enhancement for TOCs and \(\alpha\)-CAR after the three-week forage (Figure 2); whereas the spring samples showed that the enhancement is distributed among all the antioxidants (Figure A1) so that loading vectors are roughly all pointing toward scores (sample spots) collected after the fodder.