Intra-species variation in fatty acid profile and nutritional indices of cattle (Bos indicus), buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and goat (Capra hircus) ghee deciphered using GC-FID and FT-IR spectroscopy

Abstract

Nutritional quality of ghee samples prepared from cattle, buffalo and goat milk was evaluated based on fatty acid profiling. Short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids were highest (P < 0.05) in goat ghee indicating higher digestibility. Besides lower saturated fatty acids (55.10 g 100 g−1), Sahiwal ghee had highest (P < 0.05) oleic acid (35.40 g 100 g−1) and conjugated linoleic acid content (0.52 g 100 g−1), thus proving its potential health attributes. Nutritional indices including atherogenic index and thrombogenic index were lowest for Sahiwal (1.38 and 2.05) and Tharparkar (1.51 and 2.33), while desirable fatty acids and hypercholesterolaemic fatty acids were highest in both of these breeds and buffalo breed, respectively. FT-IR spectra revealed vibrational motions that confirmed dissimilarities in cholesterol levels, saturated fatty acids and β-carotene, triacylglycerols and aliphatic chains. A proper separation of fatty acid clusters among different samples was obtained by OPLS-DA test and heat maps.