Fatty acid profile and nutritional index of goat milk were affected by forage species

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of herbage species on the fatty acid profile and the Health Promoting Index (HPI) in goat milk. Forty Derivata di Siria goats homogeneous for milk production, days of lactation and body condition score were allotted to eight groups and fed with the following plant species: Avena sativa (AS), Lolium perenne (LP), Triticosecale (TG), Hordeum vulgare var. Federal (HV), Medicago sativa (MS), Trifolium incarnatum (TI), Vicia sativa (VC), Lotus corniculatus (LC). All species were used in pureness. Each experimental period lasted 11d and consisted of 8d for adaptation and 3d for milk sampling during which the goats received ad libitum the fresh forage cut daily. Plant species affected (P<0.01) classes (SFA, MUFA, PUFA), single FAs (ALA, CLA) and nutritional index (HPI). SFAs content was significantly higher in LP than in milk from AS, HV, TG species. MUFA values significantly decreased from TG and HV (35.3 and 34.2) to LC and MS (29.5, 29.1) and reached the lowest values in milk from LP (24.7) diet. PUFA content was higher (P<0.01) in LC (8.35) and lower in LP (6.09) milk. The CLA content of milk from goats fed AS, LC, HV and TI (0.93, 0.92, 0.97 and 0.95) diets was higher than MS and VC (0.67 and 0.62) diets. The proportion of ALA was maximum with the VC (1.44) and minimum with LC and MS (1.17 and 1.06) diets. In the other groups ALA content ranged from 0.67 to 0.84. We found a significant effect of forage species on HPI. In particular, this index was significantly higher in TG (0.77) than LP (0.43) milk. This study showed that the forage species affected markedly the fatty acid profile and the nutritional index of milk.