title: Short communication: Feeding linseed oil to dairy goats with competent reticular groove reflex greatly increases n-3 fatty acids in milk fat.
abstract: A crossover experiment was designed to compare the effects of 2 ways of feeding linseed oil on milk fat fatty acid (FA) composition. Ten lactating goats, trained to keep competent their inborn reticular groove reflex, received a daily dose of linseed oil (38 g/d) either with their solid (concentrate) feed (CON) or emulsified in skim milk and bottle-fed (BOT). Two groups of 5 goats received alternative and successively each of the treatments in two 15-d periods. α-Linolenic acid in milk fat rose up to 13.7% in the BOT versus 1.34% in the CON treatment. The n-6 to n-3 FA ratio was significantly reduced in goats receiving bottle-fed linseed oil (1.49 vs. 0.49). Contents of rumen biohydrogenation intermediates of dietary unsaturated FA were high in milk fat of goats under the CON treatment but low in those in the BOT treatment. These results point to a clear rumen bypass of the bottle-fed linseed oil. This strategy allows obtaining milk fat naturally very rich in n-3 FA and very low in trans FA. Translating this approach into practical farm conditions could enable farmers to produce milk enriched in specific FA.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Animal (Universidad de Córdoba), Ctra. Madrid-Cádiz, s/n, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Martínez Marín
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gómez-Cortés
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carrión Pardo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Núñez Sánchez
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gómez Castro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Juárez
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez Alba
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez Hernández
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats; D008043:Linseed Oil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D012018:Reflex; D012159:Reticulum / Q000502:physiology*; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D008043:Linseed Oil
keywords: goat milk; linseed oil; n-3 fatty acid; rumen bypass