Fatty acid profile of Vechur cow milk at different stages of lactation

The purpose of this study was to determine the fatty acid profile of Vechur cow milk at different stages of lactation using gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Milk contains a variety of fatty acids, including short-chain, medium-chain, and long-chain fatty acids, as well as saturated, unsaturated, odd-chain, cis, and trans fatty acids. Vechur cattle, an indigenous breed of Kerala, are well known for their disease resistance and high adaptability to the hot and humid conditions of the region. Six milk samples each were collected from early, mid, and late stages of lactation from Vechur cows maintained at the University Vechur Cattle Farm, Mannuthy. The milk samples were subjected to lipid extraction, converted into fatty acid methyl esters, and analyzed by GC-FID. The study analyzed 13 fatty acids across 18 samples from different lactation stages. Although variations in fatty acid concentrations were observed among the samples, statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between early, mid, and late lactation stages. The GC-FID method used in this study proved to be a simple, rapid, sensitive, and highly reproducible technique for analyzing the fatty acid profile of milk samples.