Inclusion of Sunflower Oil, Organic Selenium, and Vitamin E on Milk Production and Composition, and Blood Parameters of Lactating Cows

Abstract

Aiming to improve milk quality and animal health, the effects of the inclusion of sunflower oil with added organic selenium (Se) and vitamin E in the diets of lactating cows were evaluated. Twenty-four multiparous lactating Jersey cows were randomly enrolled into four treatments: CON (control); SEL [2.5 mg organic Se kg−1 dry matter (DM) + 1000 IU vitamin E daily]; SUN (sunflower oil 3% DM); and SEL + SUN (sunflower oil 3% DM + 2.5 mg organic Se kg−1 DM + 1000 IU vitamin E daily). The experimental period was 12 weeks with 14 days for acclimation. Cows were milked twice a day. Dry matter intake, milk production, and composition were measured daily and analyzed in a pooled 4-week sample. On day 84, white blood cell counts, as well as serum and milk Se and vitamin E levels, were assessed. Supplementation with selenium and vitamin E alone or combined with sunflower oil increased milk production, and increased the serum and milk concentrations of those nutrients. The inclusion of sunflower oil reduced fat content and DM intake but also altered the milk fatty acid profile, mainly increasing levels of trans 11 C18:1 (vaccenic) and cis 9 trans 11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Our results indicate that supplementation with sunflower oil, Se and vitamin E provides beneficial effects on animal performance and milk composition, which could be an important source of CLA and antioxidants (Se and vitamin E) for human consumption.

Effect of Adding Selenium Vitamin E to Feed Containing Acetic Acid on Milk Production and its Fat Content in Awassi Ewes

“…[8] noted that Awassi ewes fed with concentrate added acetic acid in different levels, serum total protein and urea were not differed as compared control while, serum triglycerides and cholesterol were trend to decreased this was unagreed to what obtain to our study, the reason of that may be due to the differences between animals in weight and milk production. The effect of selenium vitamin E in T3 was clear in blood metabolites especially in increase TG, Cholesterol and LDL that increased significantly as compared control, in similar studies of [14, 36, 37, 15, and 17] blood metabolites were not affect by the addition of selenium vitamin E. But in the study of [38] cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein decreased significantly with feeding selenium vitamin E and attributed this to the role of selenium in cholesterol metabolism through the effect of the balance in the decline in glutathione and oxides glutathione. We hypothesis that blood fat metabolites in our study could be related to the effect of selenium-E in enhancing fat production.…”