Effect of dietary cation-anion difference on performance of lactating dairy cows and stability of milk proteins

Abstract

Casein micelle stability is negatively correlated with milk concentrations of ionic calcium, which may change according to the metabolic and nutritional status of dairy cows. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) on concentrations of casein subunits, whey proteins, ionic calcium, and milk heat and ethanol stability. Sixteen Holstein cows were distributed in 4 contemporary 4×4 Latin square designs, which consisted of 4 periods of 21d and 4 treatments according to DCAD: 290, 192, 98, and −71mEq/kg of dry matter (DM). The milk concentrations of ionic calcium and κ-casein were reduced as DCAD increased, whereas the milk urea nitrogen and β-lactoglobulin concentrations were increased. As a result of these alterations, the milk ethanol stability and milk stability during heating at 140°C were increased linearly with increasing DCAD [Y=74.87 (standard error=0.87) + 0.01174 (standard error=0.0025) × DCAD (mEq/kg of DM) and Y=3.95 (standard error=1.02) + 0.01234 (standard error=0.0032) × DCAD (mEq/kg of DM), respectively]. In addition, 3.5% fat-corrected milk and fat, lactose, and total milk solids contents were linearly increased by 13.52, 8.78, 2.5, and 2.6%, respectively, according to DCAD increases from −71 to 290mEq/kg of DM, whereas crude protein and casein content were linearly reduced by 4.83 and 4.49%, respectively. In conclusion, control of metabolic changes in lactating dairy cows to maintain blood acid-base equilibrium plays an important role in keeping milk stable to ethanol and during heat treatments.