This study aimed to predict the cow milk fatty acid (FA) composition using farming practices described through on-farm surveys. The FA composition of 1248 bulk milk samples and the related farming practices came from 20 experiments conducted in 10 different European countries. Samples derived from farms located between 44°N to 60°N altitude, and from sea level to 2000 m altitude. The prediction equations of milk FA composition were considered good (R2 > 0.50) for C16:0, saturated FA (SFA), poly-unsaturated FA (PUFA), and odd-chain FA (OCFA), and very good (R2 ≥ 0.60) for C18:1t11, CLAc9t11, total trans-FA, C18:3n-3, n-6/n-3 ratio, and branched-chain FA (BCFA). The main predictors were variables describing diet composition and altitude, whereas animal-related factors (i.e. lactation stage, breed, milk yield, proportion of primiparous cows in the herd) were not significant in any of the models. The predictor having the highest effect in almost all FA models was the proportion of fresh herbage in cow diet. However, when models were calculated using only samples derived from conserved forage-based diets, good predictions were also obtained for OCFA, BCFA, C18:1t10 and C18:3n-3 (R2 ≥ 0.46, 0.54, 0.52, and 0.70, respectively). These prediction models could be a valuable tool to help farmers to improve the nutritional quality of the milk they produce.
The main fatty acids of bulk milks can be predicted with rapid farm surveys
COPPA, MAURO;BORREANI, Giorgio;
2014-01-01
Abstract
This study aimed to predict the cow milk fatty acid (FA) composition using farming practices described through on-farm surveys. The FA composition of 1248 bulk milk samples and the related farming practices came from 20 experiments conducted in 10 different European countries. Samples derived from farms located between 44°N to 60°N altitude, and from sea level to 2000 m altitude. The prediction equations of milk FA composition were considered good (R2 > 0.50) for C16:0, saturated FA (SFA), poly-unsaturated FA (PUFA), and odd-chain FA (OCFA), and very good (R2 ≥ 0.60) for C18:1t11, CLAc9t11, total trans-FA, C18:3n-3, n-6/n-3 ratio, and branched-chain FA (BCFA). The main predictors were variables describing diet composition and altitude, whereas animal-related factors (i.e. lactation stage, breed, milk yield, proportion of primiparous cows in the herd) were not significant in any of the models. The predictor having the highest effect in almost all FA models was the proportion of fresh herbage in cow diet. However, when models were calculated using only samples derived from conserved forage-based diets, good predictions were also obtained for OCFA, BCFA, C18:1t10 and C18:3n-3 (R2 ≥ 0.46, 0.54, 0.52, and 0.70, respectively). These prediction models could be a valuable tool to help farmers to improve the nutritional quality of the milk they produce.
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