Soybean oil modulates the fatty acid synthesis in the mammary gland, improving nutritional quality of the goat milk

The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive performance, macro compounds and fatty acid (FA) profile of goats’ milk receiving diets supplemented with three amounts of soybean oil. Additionally, we tested to which extent lactating goats can positively respond to the influence of the soybean oil supplementation. Our hypothesis is that the FA profile in the milk will change with the increasing doses of soybean oil, i.e., the healthy FAs concentrations will increase and the concentration of harmful FAs will reduce. Eight primiparous Saanen goats weighing 39 ± 3.5 kg, with approximately 35 days of lactation and daily production of 1.8 ± 0.30 kg were evaluated. The experimental design was arranged as a double Latin Square 4 × 4. Goats were allocated in individual tie-stall pens and submitted to the following diets: control = 400 g/kg of dry matter (DM) of corn silage and 600 g/kg DM of concentrate without oil addition; 15 = 400 g/kg DM of corn silage and 585 g/kg DM of concentrate with addition of 15 g of soybean oil/kg of the diet’s DM; 30 = 400 g/kg DM of corn silage and 570 g/kg DM of concentrate with addition of 30 g of soybean oil/kg of the diet’s DM; 45 = 400 g/kg DM of corn silage and 555 g/kg DM of concentrate with addition of 45 g of soybean oil/kg of the diet’s DM. The soybean oil intake reduced daily milk production in all diets, except for diet 30. Production efficiency was not influenced by...
Source: Small Ruminant Research - Category: Zoology Source Type: research