Factors Influencing the Concentration of Certain Liposoluble Components in Cow and Goat Milk: A Review

Abstract

Milk fat contains a large number of fatty acids (FA) and other liposoluble components that exhibit various effects on human health. The present article reviews some of the factors affecting FA, vitamin A and cholesterol concentrations in milk from dairy cow and goat. Milk fat composition is linked to many factors, both intrinsic (animal species, breed, lactation stage) and extrinsic (environmental). The effect of animal species on milk fat composition is important, as reflected by higher concentrations of shortand medium-chain FA, vitamin A and cholesterol in goat than in cow milk. In a given ruminant species, the effects linked to breed are significant but limited and they can only be achieved over long periods of time. The lactation stage has an important effect on milk FA composition, mainly linked to body fat mobilisation in early lactation, but it only lasts a few weeks each year. Furthermore, changes in feeding have a marked influence on milk fat composition. Changing the forages in the diet of ruminants, pasture in particular, or supplementing lipids to the diet, represent an efficient mean to modify milk fat composition by decreasing saturated FA and cholesterol, and increasing cis-9,trans-11-CLA and vitamin A. Nutrition therefore constitutes a natural strategy to rapidly modulate milk FA, vitamin A and cholesterol composition, with the overall aim of improving the long-term health of consumers.

Factors associated with serum vitamin A and E concentrations in beef calves from Alberta and Saskatchewan and the relationship between vitamin concentrations and calf health outcomes

“…Forage type is considered to be the primary factor affecting β-carotene concentration in milk, while parity and production level seem to have only a limited effect (Calderon et al 2007;Cozma et al 2014). It is, therefore, possible that feeding management differed between heifers and cows, with heifers receiving feed of poorer quality compared with the cows.…”