Editorial

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© INRA, EDP Sciences, 2009

As constituents of milk and dairy products, minerals have a great importance in technology and nutrition. The progresses in dairy science and technology have increased the level of knowledge regarding this mineral fraction. Today, we have a lot of results, different models that are more and more specific allowing explanations of several phenomena and practical applications used during the manufacture of dairy products. In this context, the IDF/INRA First International Symposium on “MINERALS & DAIRY PRODUCTS” was organized by the French Research Institute INRA in collaboration with the International Dairy Federation and its French National Committee. It was held at Saint-Malo, France, from 1 to 3 October 2008.

The scientific objectives of this first symposium were to:

• provide an update on scientific knowledge in different areas (Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, Technology and Nutrition),

• clarify the complexity of the behaviour of minerals,

• identify unresolved problems,

• propose new strategies in research and research-development sectors.

To attain these objectives, the symposium was articulated around four main themes: Breeding condition of different species, Minerals-minerals and minerals-proteins interactions, Physico-chemical conditions and technological treatments and Nutrition. The symposium consisted of 45 oral presentations and 46 posters. It was attended by 215 participants from 32 countries, including representatives from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. The participants were industry managers, academic researchers, teachers and students.

This event was a success, thanks to the participants and sponsors. So, I would like to thank all of them for their active participation and financial support. The organizing committee and especially Sarfraz Ahmad, Sylvaine Bitteur, Christophe Geneste, Omar Mekmene, Anne Marie Renouard from INRA Agrocampus Ouest and Aurélie Dubois from IDF must be sincerely acknowledged for their contributions to this symposium.

This special issue of Dairy Science & Technology contains 14 peer-reviewed papers from the contributions presented at this symposium. I would like to acknowledge all the contributing authors for agreeing to submit their papers to the journal and for their co-operation throughout the publication process. I also wish to thank all the referees who contributed their time to read and to make valuable comments on these papers.

Finally, I hope that the readers of this special issue will find the papers valuable, stimulating and interesting.