Detailed milk fatty acid profiling of the Danish dairy cattle population

Summary

The fatty acid (FA) composition of bovine milk may be related to human health and technological properties of dairy products. The FA composition can be altered both through management and breeding. Large scale FA profiling of the Danish dairy cattle population has now been implemented for more than a year. For the first time access to millions of FA observations across an entire dairy population enables in depth analysis of the factors affecting the FA profile of milk. This was the aim of this study. For 12 months more than 3.5 million milk samples from four Danish dairy breeds had been analyzed using mid infrared spectroscopy and application of FOSS Application Note 64 for predicting content of seven FA groups and four individual FA. The results showed significant (P ≤ 0.05) effects of dairy breed, parity and lactation stage on all 11 FA categories. Also, significant effects of production system (organic vs. conventional) was found. In months, where cows were feed fresh grass, the proportion of unsaturated FA increased, whereas the proportion of saturated FA decreased. This was seen in both organic and to a lesser extent in conventional milk. Comparison of FA profiles from daughters of bulls also showed clear genetic variation for all 11 FA. In conclusion this study showed that FA profiles of milk can be altered and depends on the choice of breed, parity, lactation stage, production system and genetics.