Fatty acid profile of milk from Saanen goats fed a diet enriched with three vegetable oils

Characterization of fatty acid profiles and physico-chemical parameters of milk samples from Saanen goats fed diets enriched with 3% of three different vegetable oils (soybean, canola and sunflower) were carried out. Animals were arranged in a double 3×3 Latin square design and each pair of goats received diets containing one of the oils for 21 days—14 days for animal adaptation plus 7 days for milk sampling. Samples were collected twice a day. Milk from animals that received sunflower oil presented the highest conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentrations, whereas animals receiving canola oil had the lowest levels. Animals treated with soybean oil had the highest monounsaturated and polyunsatured fatty acids concentrations and the lowest concentration of saturated fatty acids. The n−6/n−3 ratios were 3.90, 5.77 and 4.24 for milk of animals treated with soybean, canola and sunflower oils, respectively. Significant differences (P < 0.05) between soybean and canola oil and between canola and sunflower oil treatments were observed. It is concluded that nutritional milk quality can be improved by adding vegetable oils to animal feed. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.