Branched-chain Fatty Acids In Milk Research Articles

Rockrose and quebracho condensed tannins have a minor impact on the fatty acid profile of goat milk and cheese without altering animal performance and composition of products

This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the inclusion of condensed tannins (CT) from rockrose (Cistus ladanifer L.) and quebracho (Schinopsis lorentzii) in dairy goat diets supplemented with vegetable oil rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) can increase the potentially healthy fatty acids (FA) in milk and cheese fat, without compromising animal performance and milk and cheese composition. A feeding experiment was conducted with 18 Serpentina goats distributed into three dietary treatments: C) Basal diet (Control); R) Basal diet supplemented with CT from rockrose; and Q) Basal diet supplemented with CT from quebracho. Basal diet was composed of forage and concentrate at a ratio of 25:75 and supplemented with 50 g/kg dry matter (DM) of soybean oil. Basal diet was offered at level of 800 g/head and day, and hay was offered ad libitum. Individual milk yield, chemical composition and FA profile were analyzed on days 0, 7, 14 and 21 of the experimental period. In the last week of experiment, milk of five consecutive milking from each goat was pooled to make fresh cheese, and cheese was analyzed for chemical composition and FA profile. The inclusion of CT from rockrose and quebracho in goat diets did not affect the milk yield or the milk and cheese chemical composition. Both CT sources had a minor impact on milk and cheese FA profile, limited to a reduction of some branched-chain FA in milk and cheese and a reduction of 18:1 trans-10 in milk. Rockrose CT also reduced the contents of 18:1 trans-9 in milk compared to control diet. The basal diet used in present work, containing 250 g/kg DM of dehydrated Lucerne, low-starch ingredient replacing part of the cereals and supplemented with PUFA-rich vegetable oil, resulted in goat milk and cheese with high levels of FA with potential health benefits. However, the rockrose and quebracho CT did not increase PUFA, 18:1 trans-11 and 18:2 cis-9, trans-11 levels in milk and cheese.

Contenido de ácidos grasos en leche de cabra criolla-Nubia con diferentes dietas estacionales en un sistema de alimentación intensiva en una región árida

The objective is to determine the seasonal-diet effect (dry, rainy) on goats’ milk fatty acid profile reared on a farm with an intensive production system located in an arid zone of Mexico. In the rainy season, a group of 10 goats, Creole × Anglo-Nubian, consumed a diet composed exclusively of alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa). Meanwhile, in the dry season, a similar goat group ate a mixture of corn (Zea mays) and sorghum grains (Sorghum bicolor), and buffel grass hay (Cenchrus ciliaris) in a 1:1:1 ratio. The goats were between 90 and 180 days of lactation. The saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and branched-chain fatty acids in milk were measured. The rainy-season milk showed a higher content of fatty acids; however, the contents of most types of fatty acids were not significant between seasons, except for the polyunsaturated (18:2 n-6, -linoleic acid) and highly unsaturated fatty acids (arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acid).

Short communication: Effects of diets containing supplemental fats on ruminal fermentation and milk odd- and branched-chain fatty acids in dairy cows

There is a growing interest in odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (OBCFA) in milk following reports that several branched-chain fatty acids (FA) have health promoting effects, and certain milk OBCFA could serve as a biomarker to assess ruminal function. Twenty-four Holstein cows were fed 3 low-forage diets containing 30 g/kg of dry matter of prilled palm fat (PPF), sunflower oil (SO), or an equal mixture of both fats (experiment 1) or 3 diets containing 30 g/kg of dry matter of SO with a forage-to-concentrate ratio of 39:61, 44:56, or 48:52 (Experiment 2); diets were fed to investigate milk OBCFA composition and to explore the relationships between ruminal VFA and milk OBCFA using principal component analysis. Including SO in diets decreased yields of milk 13:0 anteiso, 15:0 anteiso, 15:0, 17:0, cis-9 15:1, and cis-9 17:1 compared with PPF. The molar proportion of ruminal propionate was the lowest and the yields of milk 14:0 iso and 16:0 iso were the greatest with the diet containing both fat supplements. Replacing concentrate with forages linearly increased ruminal acetate and yields of milk 13:0 iso, 14:0 iso, 15:0 iso, 16:0 iso, 17:0 iso, 13:0 anteiso, 15:0 anteiso, 15:0, 17:0, cis-9 15:1, and cis-9 17:1. The principal component analysis revealed that ruminal molar proportion of acetate related to concentrations of milk iso FA containing <17-carbon, whereas ruminal propionate related to milk 15:0, 17:0, cis-9 15:1, and cis-9 17:1, with the stronger correlations between milk OBCFA and ruminal acetate than propionate. No associations were found between ruminal molar proportion of butyrate and milk OBCFA concentrations. The results suggest that complete replacement of PPF with SO at 30 g/kg of dry matter in low-forage diets is not an effective strategy to enhance bioactive branched-chain FA in milk, rather this feeding practice lowers anteiso FA in milk; however, increasing forage proportion in diets containing SO enhances several iso and anteiso FA in milk. The milk OBCFA concentrations have stronger correlations with ruminal acetate molar proportion than with propionate or butyrate in cows fed diets containing supplemental fats.

Branched-chain fatty acid composition of human milk and the impact of maternal diet: the Global Exploration of Human Milk (GEHM) Study

Background: An understudied component of the diet, branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) are distinctive saturated fatty acids that may have an important influence on health. Human-milk fatty acid composition is known to differ worldwide, but comparative data are lacking on BCFAs.Objective: We tested the hypotheses that concentrations of BCFAs in human milk differ between populations and are associated with maternal diet.Design: We surveyed the BCFA composition of samples collected as part of a standardized, prospective study of human-milk composition. Mothers were enrolled from 3 urban populations with differing diets: Cincinnati, Ohio; Shanghai, China; and Mexico City, Mexico. Enrollment was limited to healthy mothers of term singleton infants. We undertook a cross-sectional analysis of milk from all women with samples at postpartum week 4 (n = 359; ∼120 women/site). Fatty acids were extracted from milk by using a modified Bligh-Dyer technique and analyzed by gas chromatography. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA and Tobit regression. For Cincinnati mothers, 24-h diet recalls were analyzed in relation to the individual BCFA concentrations measured in milk samples.Results: Total BCFAs in milk differed by site, with the highest concentration in Cincinnati followed by Mexico City and Shanghai (mean ± SE: 7.90 ± 0.41, 6.10 ± 0.36, and 4.27 ± 0.25 mg/100 mL, respectively; P < 0.001). Site differences persisted after delivery mode, maternal age, and body mass index were controlled for. The individual concentrations of iso-14:0, iso-16:0, iso-18:0, anteiso-15:0, and anteiso-17:0 also differed between sites. Milk concentrations of iso-14:0 and anteiso-15:0 were associated with maternal intake of dairy; iso-16:0 was associated with maternal intakes of dairy and beef.Conclusions: BCFA concentrations in milk at 4 wk postpartum differed between mothers from Cincinnati, Shanghai, and Mexico City. Variations in human-milk BCFAs are influenced by diet. The impact of BCFAs on infant health warrants investigation.

Concentrate reduction and sequential roughage offer to dairy cows: effects on milk protein yield, protein efficiency and milk quality.

An experiment was conducted during 6 weeks to evaluate effects of a reduced dietary level of protein-rich concentrates in a moderate dairy production system on cows' performance, protein efficiency and milk quality including fatty acid profiles. Twenty-three lactating cows (Swiss Fleckvieh) were assigned either to a group receiving on average 2.4 kg/d individually fed concentrates (Prot+, n = 12) or to a group receiving no individually fed concentrates (Prot-, n = 11). All cows had ad-libitum access to a total mixed ration (TMR) mainly based on grass and maize silage, hay and little potatoes and soybean cake. In weeks 4-6 of the experiment, part of the hay was excluded from the TMR, and fed separately in the morning. Individual feed intake and milk yield were recorded during weeks 3 and 6 of the experiment; at the same time feed, faeces and milk samples were collected twice per week for analyses. Data were processed in linear mixed models. Omission of individual concentrates in Prot- was fully compensated by higher roughage intake in terms of dry matter. Crude protein (CP) and net energy intake was almost maintained. Despite a lower apparent CP digestibility in Prot-, the ratio of milk protein to ingested CP was the same in both groups, indicating a higher ruminal utilisation of degraded CP in Prot-. This corresponded with lower milk urea concentrations in Prot-. Milk quality was affected in terms of lower concentrations of linoleic and conjugated linoleic acid in milk fat of Prot-. Concentrations of odd- and branched-chain fatty acids in milk were increased in Prot-. Sequential offer of hay and TMR did not lead to considerable effects in intake, efficiency and milk quality. In conclusion, the results indicate that the efficiency of feed protein utilisation for milk protein is not impaired if concentrates are reduced in a moderate- to low-input dairy production system.

Apparent Recovery of Duodenal Odd- and Branched-Chain Fatty Acids in Milk of Dairy Cows

This study compared flows of odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (OBCFA) at the duodenum with corresponding yields in milk. Four mid-lactation Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were offered 4 dietary treatments, based on different ratios of ryegrass silage and concentrates (80:20, 65:35, 50:50, and 35:65 on a dry matter basis), in a 4×4 Latin square design experiment with 4-wk periods. Samples of milk and duodenal digesta were collected during the final week of each period and analyzed for fatty acids. Biohydrogenation of linoleic and α-linolenic acids (C18:2 and C18:3) was extensive for all treatments, with a tendency to be lower for C18:3 with increased concentrate feeding. The proportion of duodenal flows of these fatty acids that appeared in milk declined with increasing concentrate feeding. There was little change in the yield of OBCFA in milk in response to increasing level of concentrate inclusion and no significant relationship with the yield of microbial protein at the duodenum. The efficiency of transfer of iso C15:0 and anteiso C15:0 from the duodenum to milk was similar to that for C18:3, with a reduced proportion transferred into milk at higher flows. Yields of C15:0, C17:0, and iso C17:0 in milk were higher than duodenal flows, confirming synthesis in animal tissues.