Bovine milk having a high N6-polyunsaturated fatty acid content

Abstract

The present invention relates to bovine milk fat comprising, based on total fatty acid content, 8.9-29.0 wt % linoleic acid (C18:2 cis, 9,12), 0.9-2.4 wt % alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 cis 9,12,15), and 3-5 wt % butyric acid (C4:0). The present invention further relates to a bovine milk comprising said milk fat and to a method for producing said milk by feeding a lactating bovine mammal with a rumen-protected linoleic acid source and a rumen-protected alpha-linolenic acid source, followed by milking the lactating bovine animal.

Claims

1. Bovine milk fat comprising, based on a total fatty acid weight; a. 8.9-29.0 wt % linoleic acid (C18:2 cis, 9,12), b. 0.9-2.4 wt % alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 cis 9,12,15), and c. 3-5 wt % butyric acid (C4:0), wherein a weight ratio of linoleic acid to alpha-linolenic acid is in a range of 4:1-10:1.

2. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of linoleic acid to alpha-linolenic acid is in a range of 5:1-10:1.

3. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, comprising 11-20 wt % linoleic acid, and preferably 12-18 wt % linoleic acid, based on total fatty acids.

4. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, comprising 15-40 wt % palmitic acid (C16:0).

5. Bovine milk fat according to claim 4, wherein at least 30% of the palmitic acid is bound to glyceride at the sn-2 position.

6. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, comprising 8-18 wt % stearic acid (C18:0).

7. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, having an oleic acid content (C18:1 cis) in the range of 15-35 wt %.

8. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, wherein the fat comprises at most 3.0 wt %, preferably 0.5-3.0 wt %, and most preferably 0.5-2.5 wt % fatty acids with one or more non-conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds in the trans position.

9. Bovine milk fat according to claim 1, having a soap forming potential defined as the molar percentage of the sum of C12:0, C14:0, C16:0, and C18:0 in the sn-1 or sn-3 position, based on total fatty acids of 55 mol % or less, preferably in the range of 30-52 mol %, in particular in the range of 40-50 mol %.

10. Bovine milk wherein the fat phase consists of the bovine milk fat according to claim 1.

11. Bovine milk according to claim 10 wherein at least 50 wt %, preferably 90-100 wt. % of the bovine milk fat is globular milk fat.

12. Formula milk comprising a fat phase, wherein the fat phase consists of at least 50 wt. %, preferably at least 60 wt %, more preferably at least 70 wt %, even more preferably at least 90 wt %, and most preferably 100 wt % of the bovine milk fat according to claim 1.

13. The formula milk of claim 12, wherein the formula milk is an infant formula, a follow-up formula, or a growing-up formula.

Description

EXAMPLES

(1) Materials and Methods

(2) Feed Supplement Preparation (Rumen Protected)

(3) A vegetable oil (soybean) having a fatty acid composition as shown in Table 1 was encapsulated with whey protein (WPC 80) in a weight ratio of about 78 soybean oil to 17 whey protein, using the following method:

(4) 1000 kg of an emulsion was prepared by mixing 663 kg water, 272 kg of soybean oil, and 66 kg WPC 80 (extrion PROGEL, FrieslandCampina; 80% protein in dry matter) in a stirred vessel, under homogenization using a Ultra Turrax, temperature 60 C. Then the emulsion was homogenized again in a high pressure homogenizer at a pressure of 350/50 bar at 60 C., followed by a heat treatment at 82 C. for 1 hour. The heated emulsion was cooled to 55 C. and spray dried using a Spraying Systems nozzle configuration 64/21 at a pressure of 70 bar. Inlet temperature was 155 C., outlet temperature 68 C. The powder contained 79.6 wt % fat, 17.1 wt % protein, 1.2 wt % moisture. The fatty acid composition is shown in Table 1.

(5) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Fatty acid composition Fatty acid (wt % fat) C14:0 myristic acid 0.2 C16:0 palmitic acid 10.8 C18:0 stearic acid 1.5 C18: 1cis oleic acid 22.6 C18:2cis linoleic acid 58.9 C18:3-9cis alpha-linolenic acid 5.3 C18:3-6cis gamma-linoleic acid 0.3 C20:1 gadoleic acid 0.4 C20:3 eicosatrienoic acid 0.6 C20:5 eicosapentaenoic acid 0.5 Trans fatty acids 0.7
Cows

(6) Twelve lactating Holstein Friesian cows (age >85 days) were selected and grouped according to their average milk fat content of the preceding milk controls. They were then randomly assigned to one or two treatment groups (group 1 or group 2). The main characteristics are shown in Table 2.

(7) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Group 1 Group 2 Lactation (days) 104 30 131 30 Lactation (times) 3.8 0.5 3.8 0.5 Milk (L/day) 29.8 2.1 31.5 1.7 Fat (g/100 mL) 4.14 0.2 4.07 0.32 Protein (g/100 mL) 3.48 0.19 3.41 0.18 Lactose (g/100 mL) 4.33 0.06 4.39 0.08 Urea (mg/100 mL) 21.8 1.8 24.5 2.0
Feeding Regime

(8) The cows were fed either only standardized feed or standardized feed supplemented with either a low dosage of the rumen-protected supplement (0.8 kg supplement/cow/day) or a high dosage of the rumen-protected supplement (1.6 kg supplement/cow/day). More specifically, the standardized feed consisted of grass silage 11-12 kg/cow/day, based on dry matter, and concentrate 8-9 kg/cow/day, based on dry matter. For the cows receiving the supplement, concentrate was iso-energetically replaced by the supplement

(9) The feeding regime for each of the groups was as shown in Table 3.

(10) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 (weeks 1-2)* (weeks 3 + 4) (weeks 5 + 6) (weeks 7 + 8) Group 1 Standardized Low dose High dose Standardized feed supplement supplement feed Group 2 Standardized High dose Low dose Standardized feed supplement supplement feed
Results

(11) The cows were milked twice a day throughout the test period. Table 4 shows the results fat composition of the milk samples collected at the end of a period of two weeks of standardized feeding, low dosage LA&ALA rumen protected feeding and high dosage LA&ALA rumen protected feeding. The data were obtained by gas chromatography and data were averaged to provide mean values for the period of low feeding, respectively high feeding, wherein the results of groups 1 and 2 have been combined. The fraction of fatty acid at sn-2 or at sn-1/sn-3 was determined as described by Luddy, et al. (see above). The protein content was determined using a routine infrared red analyser (FTIR) mid infrared with A FOSS instrument (Milcoscan).

(12) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 before feeding low feeding high feeding after feeding Fatty acid (g/100 FA) (n = 8 cows) (n = 8 cows) (n = 8 cows) (n = 8 cows) C4:0 3.56 3.85 4.04 3.86 C6:0 2.37 2.52 2.44 2.51 C8:0 1.33 1.39 1.28 1.37 C10:0 3.06 2.93 2.58 3.05 C12:0 3.63 3.22 2.78 3.59 C14:0 12.43 10.18 9.00 12.31 C16:0 34.77 24.97 22.05 37.22 C18:0 8.67 12.16 13.22 8.03 C18:1 cis 9 15.46 18.73 20.3 14.45 C18:2 cis 9, 12 1.42 8.02 10.83 1.28 C18:3 cis 9, 12, 15 0.69 1.34 1.55 0.47 CLA: C18:2 cis 9 trans 11 0.39 0.43 0.41 0.33 Saturated 74.12 64.73 60.25 76.01 Mono unsaturated 21.42 23.74 25.18 20.12 Poly unsaturated 2.86 10.12 13.34 2.4 Trans FA*** 1.37 1.53 1.58 1.17 Soap forming potential (Mol %)* 58.48 47.97 46.4 58.72 C16:0 @ sn-2** 40.96 43.92 42.06 42.1 Milk composition Fat % 4.18 4.41 4.59 4.35 Protein % 3.50 3.46 3.42 3.44 Fat/Protein (ratio) 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 *Soap forming potential = Sum of the molar proportions of C12:0, C14:0, C16:0 and 18:0 at the sn- position = C12:0 (sn 1, 3) + C14:0 (sn 1, 3) + C16:0 (sn 1, 3) + C18:0 (sn 1, 3) **C16:0@ sn-2 = (C16:0(sn-2)/(3*C16:0(TAG))*100, i.e. % of total C16:0 that is esterified at sn-2 position ***comprising a non-conjugated trans C = C

(13) The results in Table 4 illustrate that it is possible to obtain milk having milk fat wherein the content of both LA and ALA is within the range of 8.9-29.0 g/100 g LA, based on total fatty acids; and 0.9-2.4 g/100 g ALA, based on total fatty acids, without needing to subject the milk fat to any treatment. This was found possible whilst at least maintaining desired saturated fatty acid at a desired level: the butyric acid is maintained at essentially the same level, palmitic acid is reduced yet maintained above 20 g/100 g. Further, soap forming potential is reduced to a preferred level. Further, the table shows beneficial results for unsaturated fatty acids, like oleic acid (C18:1 cis) and CLA, for which the levels are increased or maintained.