Milk and cheese fatty acid profiles in Alpine goat fed green maize forage

Abstract

Twenty lactating Alpine goats were randomly allocated to two treatment groups to investigate the effect of feeding green maize on the fatty acid profile of milk and cheese. The control goats were fed lucerne hay ad libitum; the other group was fed green maize plants ad libitum; additionally, all animals received 350 g per day per goat concentrate of the same composition. The green maize diet considerably increased the rumenic acid concentration in milk (0.44% vs 0.60%; P < 0.01) and in cheese (0.46% vs 0.78%; P < 0.01) and increased the n-3 fatty acids in milk (0.55% vs 1.05%; P < 0.001) and in cheese (0.62% vs 1.04%; P < 0.01). In addition, the n-6/n-3 ratio was also more favourable in the experimental group (6.04 vs 1.88 in milk, P < 0.01; 4.72 vs 2.43 in cheese, P < 0.001). It is concluded that the milk and cheese from goats fed green maize are more beneficial in human nutrition than the milk produced by animals fed lucerne hay.