Relationship between milk production system and milk traits and somatic cell counts in Brazilian Murrah buffaloes: a multivariate analysis

Severino Benone Paes Barbosa,Elizabete Cristina Da Silva,Fabiana De Araújo Lopes,Atzel Cândido Acosta Abad,Elisa Cristina Modesto

doi:10.4025/actascianimsci.v42i1.46522

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the monthly milk production and quality of buffaloes from two milk production systems in the Brazilian northeast using the multivariate analysis: principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 2,506 individual milk recordings were performed in two production systems, containing information on milk production (kg day-1), fat, protein, lactose and total solids counts and somatic cell count (SCC). There were positive correlations between the fat content and the contents of total solids (TS) and protein, and of TS and protein. From the PCA, two main components (PC1 and PC2) were identified, explaining 67.71% of the total variation. The fat, protein, lactose and ST level, represented by PC1, explain 46.18% of the total variance, and were an indicator of milk nutritional quality. The CP2, composed of milk production, SCC and production systems, explains 21.53% of the total variance, and was indicative of herd health. PCA results may be useful in dairy buffalo breeding programs, and a reduced number of variables are necessary to assess the nutritional quality of milk and herd health.

Highlights

In the last few decades, buffalo breeding has increased and acquired more importance in the scientific surveys carried out in Brazil and other countries
Several studies of dairy buffalo have focused on evaluation the chemical milk composition of the milk, microbiological quality of the milk, and characterization of pathogens related to mastitis, which cause great economic losses in the dairy industry worldwide (Andrea et al, 2015; Botton et al, 2019; Coimbra-e-Souza, Brito, Chamon, Laport, & Giambiagi-de-Marval, 2017; Fabres-Klein, Aguilar, Silva, Silva, & Ribon, 2014; Lee et al, 2014)
The average observed in this study indicates a warning signal to producers

Summary

Introduction

In the last few decades, buffalo breeding has increased and acquired more importance in the scientific surveys carried out in Brazil and other countries This is mainly due to characteristics of the buffalo in terms of the production of animal protein (milk and meat). Several studies of dairy buffalo have focused on evaluation the chemical milk composition of the milk, microbiological quality of the milk, and characterization of pathogens related to mastitis, which cause great economic losses in the dairy industry worldwide (Andrea et al, 2015; Botton et al, 2019; Coimbra-e-Souza, Brito, Chamon, Laport, & Giambiagi-de-Marval, 2017; Fabres-Klein, Aguilar, Silva, Silva, & Ribon, 2014; Lee et al, 2014) All this information has contributed to understanding the process of feeding of the dairy herd and to identifying failures that might compromise the qualitative value of the produced milk. This is of great important to evaluating the hygienic management during milking and the health of the mammary gland of lactating cows (Busanello et al, 2017; Dias et al, 2017; Paixão et al, 2017) in the milk production system, enabling the development of adequate management practices to maintain milk quality and ensuring the supply of safe products for human consumption

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion