Milk fatty acid profile of crossbred Holstein x Zebu cows fed on cake licuri

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the inclusion level of licuri cake (LC) in the diet of confined cows on fatty acid profile and milk cholesterol. Four cows with a blood level of ½ to ¾ Holstein x Zebu blood were used, distributed in a 4 x 4 Latin square, where the inclusion levels of the cake in the total diet were 0.0, 5.5, 11.0 and 16.5%, replacing soybean meal in the diet. There was a linear decreasing effect for the fatty acids Lauric, Elaidic, Gamma-Linolenic and conjugated linoleic acid isomers (C18:2cis9trans11; C18:2trans10cis12) from the inclusion levels of LC. The inclusion of licuri cake negatively influenced the concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid isomers, in addition to the fatty acids of the Omega-6 series, which is not interesting from the human nutrition point of view.