Open AccessAdded-value products: healthier milk from forage, scope for breeders?
Author(s) -
A. Elgersma,
H.J. Smit,
Hassan Taweel,
Izabela Witkowska
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
grassland research and practice series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2463-4751
pISSN - 0110-8581
DOI - 10.33584/rps.12.2006.3046
Subject(s) - cultivar , lolium perenne , forage , perennial plant , biology , composition (language) , ruminant , rumen , agronomy , zoology , food science , pasture , fermentation , philosophy , linguistics
Plant lipids are a major source of beneficial fatty acids (FA) in milk. Forage quality differences can affect rumen metabolism and there could be opportunities to change the composition of ruminant products through species or cultivar choice. Twelve dairy cows were used in two stall-feeding trials with fresh grass to evaluate the effect of diploid perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) cultivars on milk FA composition during the growing season. Six cultivars were cut daily during three 14-day periods at the same target yield. The experiments consisted of two 3x3 Latin square trials, in each of which 3 cultivars were fed to 2 groups of three cows. The six cultivars differed significantly in concentrations of water-soluble carbohydrates, neutral-detergent fibre and crude protein. However, there were no significant differences among the six cultivars in FA concentration or proportions of FA. No variation in DM intake, milk production and composition or milk FA composition was found. The latter may be due to the lack of variation in grass FA concentration and composition in the cultivars studied.