Abstract

RICO, Jorge E; MORENO, Bárbara; PABON, Martha L  and  CARULLA, Juan. Composition of the fat milk of the Bogotá´s savannah with emphasis on rumenic acid (cis-9, trans-11 CLA). Rev Colom Cienc Pecua [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.1, pp.30-39. ISSN 0120-0690.

Conjugated linoleic acids are natural micro-components of ruminant’s fat milk, which have gained an increasing interest because of their valuable potential effects on human health. Rumenic acid (CLA cis-9, trans-11 C18:2) is the most important of the CLA iso-forms because of its abundance and its effects. Our main objective was the identification and quantification of the rumenic acid content of fat in milks of the Bogotá savannah. Additionally, we looked for associations between dietary factors and rumenic acid concentration. In this study, seventeen milk samples coming from the Bogotá savannah and four commercial milk samples were used. A gas chromatography method that allowed us to separate and quantify more than thirty fatty acids, from butyric (C4:0) to araquidic (C20:0) and rumenic acid (conjugated 18:2) was standardized. The mean rumenic acid content of the samples was 13.6 mg/g of fat, and ranged from 6.38 mg to 19.54 mg/g of fat (3 fold variation). These results showed similar values to other literature reports conducted under grazing conditions and are in the expected range for the amount consumed by the cows. The correlation (r) values were significant for dry matter supplementation, conserved forages supplementation, silage intake, and cotton seed intake and had a negative correlation with the rumenic acid content of fat milk (r values of -0.62, -0.54, -0.48 and -0.7, respectively). However, the values for the determination coefficients (r2) of these variables were very low, suggesting that each variable had individual effect, although none of them explains completely the variation of the rumenic acid content in fat milk. In general, a clear tendency to a decrease in rumenic acid content was observed with an increase in supplementation under grazing conditions, especially when corn silage was included. In the same way, a tendency to decreasing the rumenic acid content was observed for cotton seed supplementation, though the reasons for this were not clear. The differences in the rumenic acid content found on this study strongly suggest that fresh forage feeding can be advantageous for the production of milk with high contents of rumenic acid (or high rumenic acid milks), and that under commercial conditions, supplementation with adequate products might offer an opportunity for increasing the PUFAs (Polyunsasturated Fatty Acids) supply, precursors for rumenic acid synthesis.

Keywords : grazing, milk fat; rumenic acid; supplementation.

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