title: Fatty acid profile of yak milk from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in different seasons and for different parities.
abstract: Yaks are the most important grazing livestock for milk production on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau because these animals are adapted to the high elevations and extremes of cold and can graze throughout the year. In the present study, 30 yaks were selected and the fatty acid (FA) profile of yak milk at different seasons and parities was investigated using gas chromatography. The concentrations of cis-9 C18:1, cis-11 C18:1, cis-9,trans-11 C18:2, and C18:3 n-3 in yak milk were higher in summer (25.26, 1.50, 1.46, and 0.33 g/100 g of total FA, respectively) than in winter (22.17, 0.77, 1.27, and 0.28 g/100 g of total FA, respectively). The contents of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated FA in milk fat of multiparous (parities 2 to 5) yaks (31.61 and 4.20 g/100 g of total FA, respectively) were higher than those in primiparous yaks (29.61 and 3.80 g/100g of total FA, respectively). These results suggest (1) that the potential exists to improve the FA composition of yak milk by developing local supplement resources during the winter and (2) that multiparous yaks have a more favorable FA profile than primiparous yaks.
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: F Z
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: B Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002681:China; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids