Extract of Moringa oleifera leaves increases milk production and enhances milk fatty acid profile of Nubian goats

Abstract

The present experiment aimed to assess whether the oral administration of Moringa oleifera leaf extract positively affected milk production, composition, and fatty acid profile of Nubian goats. Sixteen lactating does weighing 36.5 ± 0.6 kg, during the first week of lactation, were randomly assigned to 4 treatments in a quadruplicated 4 × 4 Latin square design, according to their previous milk production, in an 88-day experiment. Does were fed a basal diet containing 400 g of Egyptian berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) and 600 g of a concentrate feed mixture and orally supplemented with the extract at 0 (Control treatment), 10 (ME10 treatment), 20 (ME20 treatment), or 40 mL daily (ME40 treatment). Greater (P < 0.05) yields of milk and milk energy, total solids, solids-not-fat, fat, protein, lactose, and ash were observed with M. oleifera extract, and the effect of increasing the dose of the extract was linear (P < 0.01) for total solids, solids-not-fat, fat, and lactose concentrations in milk. Increases (P < 0.01) in milk proportions of unsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids and decreases in (P < 0.01) saturated fatty acid proportions and the atherogenicity index were observed with the inclusion of M. oleifera extract. Overall, supplementing diets of Nubian does with M. oleifera extract enhanced milk yield by about 6% and energy-corrected milk yield by 12%. M. oleifera extract decreased milk individual and total saturated fatty acids by about 4.6–5.6%, and increased individual and total unsaturated fatty acids by about 11.5–13.9%. Similarly, total conjugated linoleic acid was increased by about 17.4–23.2%. Because no major milk yield and composition responses were obtained with increasing the dose of M. oleifera extract to 40 mL doe−1, we recommend the 20 mL dose for use in practice; however, repeating the experiment with new leaf materials that would likely differ in concentrations of phenolic compounds is recommended to validate results.