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Seasonal variations in the fatty acid profile of milk from yaks grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2013

Luming Ding ,
Yupeng Wang ,
Michael Kreuzer ,
Xusheng Guo ,
Jiandui Mi ,
Yujiao Gou ,
Zhanhuan Shang ,
Ying Zhang ,
Jianwei Zhou  and
Hucheng Wang
...Show all authors
Luming Ding
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Yupeng Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Michael Kreuzer
Affiliation:
ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Xusheng Guo
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Jiandui Mi
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Yujiao Gou
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Zhanhuan Shang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Ying Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Jianwei Zhou
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Hucheng Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Ruijun Long*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, International Centre for Tibetan Ecosystem Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: longrj@lzu.edu.cn
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Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the seasonal changes in the fatty acid profile of milk from yaks (Bos grunniens) when kept at altitudes of 3000 m above sea level (a.s.l.) and higher. Data and samples were collected in summer (July), autumn (September), winter (November) and spring (March) from ten lactating yaks (four in spring). The yaks grazed pastures adjacent to the farm building throughout the year. In spring only they received 0·6 kg crop by-products per day (dry matter basis). Fresh alpine grasses, available in summer and autumn, showed high concentrations of α-linolenic acid (46–51 g/100 g lipids) compared with the dry, yellow vegetation of winter and spring (16 g/100 g lipids). In autumn and summer, the milk fat had higher concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids than in winter. These polyunsaturated fatty acids were comprised of vaccenic acid, rumenic acid and α-linolenic acid, which are all considered beneficial to human health. The rare fatty acid, γ-linolenic acid, was also detected in yak milk, especially in the milk obtained in spring. The results suggest that yak milk, which is the most important basic food of the Tibetan herders, has the most favourable fatty acid profile when yaks grazed green pasture, which also corresponds to the period of highest milk production.

Keywords

Yakmilkfatty acidseason
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 80 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 410 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2013 

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