Olive leaf by-products may be an important feed source for ruminants in the Mediterranean area, due to their nutritional value and high levels of functional metabolites. Additionally, their use can enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of the productions. To evaluate the effect of olive leaf supplementation on the fatty acid profile of sheep cheese, two farms with Comisana breed sheep with free access to pasture and fedwith 300 g/head/day of concentrate were considered. One farm supplemented the feed with clover hay ad libitum (NOL) and the other farm replaced hay with olive leaves (OLI) in the autumn period. Cheese analyses were performed at 15, 30, and 60 days of ripening. Saturated fatty acids were lower in OLI cheese than NOL cheese, while MUFA and PUFA n-3 and n-6 were higher in OLI cheese. Myristic acid (C14:0) and palmitic acid (C16:0) were lower in OLI cheese compared to NOL (8.31% vs. 8.90% and 21.52% vs. 24.95%, respectively), while oleic acid (C18:1 cis-9) was higher in OLI cheese (20.66% vs. 18.78%). Also, CLA cis-9 trans-11 (0.98% vs. 0.84%), and other isomers were higher in OLI cheese. Health indexes, such as the thrombogenic and atherogenic index, were lower in OLI than in NOL cheese (1.96 vs. 2.38 and 1.69 vs. 2.05, respectively) showing the improvement in the health quality of cheese due to olive leaf integration in directly on farm sheep feeding.

Organic poultry production requires genotypes suited to outdoor rearing, yet associations between previously characterised locomotor aptitude and meat amino acid composition remain poorly understood. This study examined breast and thigh muscles from 60 organically reared chickens representing six genetic lines (three classified as active and three as sedentary; ten carcasses per line), slaughtered at 81 days. Proximate composition and total and free amino acids were determined. Breast muscle contained more crude protein and total essential amino acids (EAAs) than thigh muscle. Genotypes classified as active had higher total EAA concentrations in breast (7.80 vs. 7.20 g/100 g meat), but not in thigh. After false discovery rate correction, the overall locomotor-group difference in crude protein was not significant. Free amino acid differences were concentrated in thigh: Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons showed lower total free amino acids, free EAAs, and individual free valine, isoleucine, and leucine in active-classified lines, whereas breast concentrations were comparable. The group × muscle interaction was significant for free EAAs (Q = 0.013), but not for total free amino acids. These muscle-specific patterns demonstrate the complementary value of total and free amino acid measurements for characterising poultry meat composition, without establishing an independent effect of locomotion or in vivo metabolic mechanisms.