Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
The partitions of phosphorus and aneurin were determined in the colostrum and in the transitional and mature milk of Ayrshire cows with the following results:
1. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus was 11:1 in the first mammary secretion but dropped to a minimum value of 4·5:1 a week later. Thereafter the ratio increased throughout lactation attaining a value of 7·2:1 at the fortieth week. The first colostrum was very rich in both phosphorus and nitrogen.
2. Phosphatase titre in colostrum was 154 units in the first post-partum secretion but decreased to 10 during the first five days of lactation. The titre fluctuated slightly during the next few days and increased gradually thereafter, attaining 189 units in the 38th week of lactation.
3. Phosphatase was correlated positively with inorganic-P (r= +0·83) and negatively with both ester-P (r= −0·94) and lipid-P (r= −0·70), all P fractions being expressed as percentages of total P. The percentage of phosphorus present as casein was initially 19–21%, but was only 14% in late lactation.
4. The first colostrum contained 74 μg. aneurin/100 ml. skim milk. This value became 35 in midlactation and only 28 in late lactation. The corresponding figures for cocarboxylase were 20, 5·7 and 2·3 μg./100 ml. respectively, and for protein-bound aneurin 14, 3·2 and 1·7 respectively. Both cocarboxylase and protein-bound aneurin were negatively correlated with phosphatase.