Fatty acid composition of carcass fat of indigenous ( Capra prisca) suckled Greek kids and milk of their does

Abstract

Fatty acids in decreasing contents in subcutaneous and perinephric carcass fat were oleic, palmitic, stearic, myristic, linoleic, palmitoleic, lauric, linolenic and capric acid. Odd-numbered acids and branched chain acids were approximately mid-way. There was no evidence of difference between sexes, except for the fat depots. Subcutaneous fat of younger kids (5 weeks old) had a significantly lower proportion of linolenic, palmitoleic and other (odd-numbered and branched chain) acids ( P<0.01 and P<0.001) and a higher proportion of stearic and capric acids ( P<0.05 and P<0.01). Perinephric fat of older kids (9 weeks old) had a significantly higher proportion of capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic and linolenic acids ( P<0.05 mand P<0.001) and a lower proportion of stearic acid ( P<0.001). Melting point of subcutaneous fat was lower and softness index was higher than of perinephric fat ( P<0.001), and younger animals had higher fat melting points ( P<0.01). The melting point for subcutaneous fat was less than 38°C, whereas that for perinephric fat was above 38°C. A high positive correlation coefficient between melting point and stearic acid was found ( P<0.001). Milk fatty acids in decreasing contents in total fat were oleic, palmitic, stearic, myristic, capric, linoleic, lauric, caprylic, caproic, butyric, palmitoleic, myristoleic and linolenic acid. Myristoleic, stearic, linoleic and palmitic acids increased with stage of lactation ( P<0.05 and P<0.001), whereas total unsaturated fatty acids decreased ( P<0.001). It is concluded that carcass fat of kids and milk fat of their does is rich in saturated fatty acids. Because of this, carcass fat of suckled kids is harder than that of suckled lambs.