Food Chemistry 254 (2018) 326–332

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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Fatty acid profile of milk from Saanen and Swedish Landrace goats T
⁎
S. Yurchenko , A. Sats, V. Tatar, T. Kaart, H. Mootse, I. Jõudu
Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Chair of Food Science and Technology, Kreutzwaldi 56/5, EE51014 Tartu,
Estonia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Recent years have had an increased demand for goat milk and its products. The quality of goat milk is de-
Goat milk termined, in part, by the fatty acid (FA) profile, but there is little information about breed influence on the FA
Fatty acids profile of goat milk. The aim of this study was to describe and compare FA profiles of goat milk produced by
Atherogenic index Saanen and Swedish Landrace breeds. FA profiles were analysed by gas chromatography with a flame ionisation
Desaturase index
detector using 100 m capillary column coated with ionic liquids of extreme polarity (SLB-IL111). The amounts of
Derivatization
19 FAs were measured. Analyses indicated that FA profile in the milk of Saanen goats differs from that of
Gas chromatography
SLB-IL111 column Swedish Landrace goats with the first having higher proportions of most SFA-s and the second having lower
proportions of C16:0, C16:1 and C18:1. This knowledge enables the improvement of the quality of goat milk and
goat milk-derived products.

1. Introduction biomarker for prediction of subacute ruminal acidosis (Colman,

Increased awareness of health has led to a higher demand for pro-
ducts made from goat’s milk. These products are an especially highly
valued part of the diet of small children, elderly people and people with
nutritional allergies (Yangilar, 2013). Compared to cow milk fat, goat
milk fat has higher digestibility. This is related to the lower mean milk
fat globule size (Tatar et al., 2015) and the higher content of short- and
medium-chain fatty acids (FA) (Ceballos et al., 2009). The fatty acid
profile and contents in milk influence the quality, texture, aroma and
flavour of milk and milk products (Markiewicz-Kęszycka, Czyżak-
Runowska, Lipińska, & Wójtowski, 2013; Yangilar, 2013; Cossignani,
Giua, Urbani, Simonetti, & Blasi, 2014). It is well documented that
consumption of SFA increases the risk of cardio vascular disease (CVD),
while PUFA have been found to have protective effects against CVD
(Simopoulos, 2008).
Increased intakes of PUFA are also associated with health benefits
such as improved brain function, and reduced risk of dementia (Ruxton,
Reed, Simpson, & Millington, 2004). A recent development in FA-re-
lated research is using the milk fatty acid profile as a diagnostic
Waegeman, De Baets, & Fievez, 2015).
The fatty acid profile of goat milk is influenced by a number of
factors such as diet - mainly the lipid supplementation (Matsushita
et al., 2007; Park, Juàrez, Ramos, & Haenlein, 2007; Martínez Marín
et al., 2012; Tripathi, 2014; Ayeb et al., 2015), season (Czarniawska-
Zajac et al., 2006; Toyes-Vargas, Cordoba-Matson, Espinoza-
Villavicencio, Palacio-Espinosa, & Murillo-Amador, 2013), stage of
lactation (Strzałkowska et al., 2009; Haile et al., 2016), storage
(Sumarmono, Sulistyowatia, & Soenarto., 2015), individual differences
of goats and the environment (Yangilar, 2013). There are fatty acid
profile differences between goat and cow milk, with goat milk having a
higher content of medium-chain and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA),
and a lower amount of C18:0 and C18:1 (Ceballos et al., 2009;
Markiewicz-Kęszycka et al., 2013). However, only two studies have
examined if the FA profiles in the milk of different goat breeds differ,
with Talpur, Bhanger, and Memon (2009) reporting differences and
Mayer & Fiechter (2012) not. This disagreement might be caused by
differences in the regions where the studies were preformed (Talpur
et al. 2009 in Pakistan and Mayer & Fiechter 2012 in Austria). More

Abbreviations: C4:0, butanoic acid; C6:0, hexanoic acid; C8:0, octanoic acid; C10:0, decanoic acid; C11:0, undecanoic acid; C12:0, dodecanoic acid; C14:0, tetradecanoic acid; C14:1n-5,
(Z)-tetradec-9-enoic acid; C15:0, pentadecanoic acid; C15:1n-5, (Z)-pentadec-10-enoic acid; C16:0, hexadecanoic acid; C16:1n-9, (Z)-hexadec-9-enoic acid; C17:0, heptadecanoic acid;
C17:1n-7, (Z)-heptadec-10-enoic acid; C18:0, octadecanoic acid; C18:1n-9c, (Z)-octadec-9-enoic acid; C18:1n-9t, (E)-octadec-9-enoic acid; C18:2n-6c, (9Z,12Z)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic
acid; C18:2n-6t, (9E,12E)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acid; C18:3n-3, (9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic acid; C18:3n-6, (6Z,9Z,12Z)-octadeca-6,9,12-trienoic acid; C20:0, icosanoic acid;
C20:1n-9, (Z)-icos-11-enoic acid; C20:2n-6, (11E,14E)-icosa-11,14-dienoic acid; C21:0, henicosanoic acid; C22:0, docosanoic acid; I.S./C13:0, internal standard/tridecanoic acid/; FA,
fatty acid; FAME, fatty acid methyl ester; GC, gas chromatography; GC-FID, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector; LOD, limit of detection; LOQ, limit of quantitation; SE,
standard error; SFA, saturated fatty acids; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids; UFA, unsaturated fatty acids; ω-6/ω-3, ratio of ω-6 and ω-3 fatty acids;
AI, atherogenic index; DI, desaturase index
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sergei.jurtsenko@emu.ee (S. Yurchenko).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.02.041
Received 8 June 2017; Received in revised form 2 January 2018; Accepted 8 February 2018
Available online 09 February 2018
0308-8146/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Yurchenko et al.
studies from different regions, conducted with uniform methodology,
are therefore needed to clarify breed as a factor in the FA profile of goat
milk.
Recently goat farming in Estonia has increased. In 2016 there were
2869 female goats in 386 farms in Estonia (Statistics Estonia, 2017).
Only seven farms operated with milking herds of over 60 head. The
main goat breeds used in Estonia are the Saanen, Swedish Landrace,
Thuringian and Anglo Nubian.
Gas chromatography (GC) with a polar polymer-type column as
polyethylene glycol and cyanopropyl polysiloxane stationary phases is
most frequently used to analyse FA profiles. The use of these columns
enables the separation of fatty acids with a wide range of carbon
numbers, but the separation is not sufficient to resolve some com-
pounds and isomers (Nakamura, Shimizu, & Ando, 2014). To solve this
problem, a new type of capillary column, SLB-IL, was developed. In the
SLB-IL series, use of ionic liquid as the stationary phase has enabled
high-temperature GC on polar stationary phases. The polar column SLB-
IL111 has been found to be suitable for analysing fatty acid isomers
(Delmonte et al., 2012; De la Fuente, Rodríguez-Pino, & Juarez, 2015),
also in goat milk (Pittau, Panzalis, Spanu, Scarano, & De Santis, 2013).
The aim of this study was to describe and compare FA profiles of
goat milk produced by Saanen and Swedish Landrace breed goats kept
under identical feeding conditions on two Estonian goat farms.
Additional goal was to validate the SLB-IL 111 column operating con-
ditions for analysing FA isomers in goat milk.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Milk sampling
Milk samples were collected from two farms in inland Estonia, lo-
cated 160 km from each other (58°05′53.2″N 25°18′08.5″E and
58°11′33.8″N 27°15′00.2″E). In the context of Estonia, both farms can
be considered big scale farms with 65 milking goats and with an
average yearly milk production of 1000–1400 kg per goat. The current
research included eight Swedish Landrace goats from the first and seven
Saanen goats from the second farm. One to four milk samples per goat
(average 3.6 samples per goat) were collected, as some of the goats
entered the dry period during the experiment. Goats which entered the
dry period were removed from the sampling flock and replaced. All
selected goats were in the second half of their second or higher lactation
and in good health. Machine milked samples from each goat in both
flocks were collected using in-line milk-meters and 50 mL of sample
were frozen (−20 °C) until analysis. Samples were collected twice in
October of 2015 and once in January, February and March of 2016. All
samples (n = 28 from Swedish Landrace goats and n = 26 from Saanen
goats) were analysed separately and then averaged. Throughout the
study, goats on both farms were kept indoors on deep litter and hay,
and were fed identically. The feed consisted of grass silage, hay, a
concentrate mix and a mineral lick. Silage, hay and the mineral lick
were available ad libitum and the concentrate mix was fed twice a day
(200 g per day) in the milking parlour. Silage and hay, fed in both
farms, had similar botanical compositions. The concentrate, with in-
gredients of the same origin and proportions, was mixed on-site on both
farms. The concentrate mix consisted of barley, wheat, rapeseed cake
(purchased as the same batch from manufacturer – Scanola Baltic), and
a mineral and vitamin premix.
2.2. Chemicals and standards
Methanol (purity 99.9%), heptane (purity 99%), and a boron tri-
fluoride – methanol complex solution (13–15%) were purchased from
Sigma-Aldrich (Germany). Sodium hydroxide (purity 98%) and sodium
chloride (purity 99.8%) were obtained from Reachim (Russia). Sodium
sulphate (purity 99%) originated from the Mikhailovsky Plant of
Chemical Reagent (Russia). Identification of the individual FAME was
327
Food Chemistry 254 (2018) 326–332
carried out with the use of FAME standards C4-C22 from
Dr. Ehrenstorfer GmbH (Germany). A standard mixture of common
fatty acid methyl esters CRM47885 (Supelco 37 Component FAME Mix)
was obtained from Supelco (USA). Tridecanoic acid methyl ester
(C13:0) as internal standard (I.S.) was purchased from Sigma Aldrich
(Germany).
2.3. Calibration and standards preparation
The Supelco CRM47885 standard mixture was used as stock solution
for GC calibration. Calibration curves were produced from six working
standards, which were prepared daily from the stock solution by di-
luting with heptane. The stock solution of the internal standard was
prepared by dissolving 60 mg methyl tridecanoate in 25 mL heptane.
All the solutions of the working standards and IS solution were stored at
−20 °C until analysis.
2.4. Sample preparation
Extraction of fatty acids was performed according to the boron tri-
fluoride method described previously (Yurchenko, Sats, Poikalainen, &
Karus, 2016). Approximately 1 mL of obtained extract was transferred
into a test tube, dissolved in 1 mL of heptane, and 200 µL of I.S. was
added. Finally, 1 μL of dilution was injected manually into the GC in-
jector port for analysis.
2.5. Gas chromatography of FAMEs
GC analysis was carried out with a Varian 3900 gas chromatograph
equipped with Supelco capillary column of SLB-IL111
(100 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.20 μm film thickness) and a flame ionization
detector (FID). This ionic liquid-coated capillary column has the highest
polarity and consists of 1,5-Di(2,3-dimethylimidazolium) pentane bis
(trifluoromethylsulphonyl)imide phase. For chromatographic separa-
tion of FAMEs the following oven time-temperature programme was
used: start at temperature 80 °C (held for 2 min), set at 15 °C/min from
80 °C to 168 °C (held isothermally at 168 °C for 18 min), and set at 5 °C/
min from 168 °C to 186 °C (held at 186 °C for 23 min). Analysis was
performed by manual injection of 1 µL of each sample at a split ratio of
10:1. The injector temperature was set at 250 °C. Split cup design wool-
packed liner with 4 mm i.d. was chosen for analyses. Helium
(99.9996%) was used as the carrier gas at a linear velocity of 1.0 mL/
min. Hydrogen (99.95%) and monitoring zero synthetic air 4.0 (mix-
ture of oxygen (20%) and nitrogen (80%)) 80% were used for FID
working. The settings for these gases were as follows: make-up (25 mL/
min), hydrogen (30 mL/min), and air (300 mL/min). The detector
temperature was 250 °C. The total run time for each analysis was
52.47 min. The Star Chromatography Workstation Version 6.3 (Varian,
USA) was used for data collection.
2.6. Calculation of fatty acid content
The peak areas of FAMEs in the chromatogram were integrated
applying Star Chromatography Workstation software, and the amounts
of individual fatty acids were expressed as weight percentages (g/100 g
total fatty acids).
The following equation was applied:
Ai
wt %i = ·f ·RRFi·100%,
AT −AI . S . i
where wt%i – weight percentage of individual FA, Ai – the peak area of
individual FAME i in the sample chromatogram, AT – the total in-
tegrated peak area of FAME from C4:0 to C20:2n-6 in the sample
chromatogram, AI.S. – the peak area of C13:0 internal standard in the
sample chromatogram, RRFi – relative response factor for individual
FAME i (RRFi was calculated from triplicate analyses of CRM47885
S. Yurchenko et al. Food Chemistry 254 (2018) 326–332

Table 1 Table 2
Summary of fatty acids, and the conversion factor for converting fatty acid methyl esters The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) data of FAMEs in
to fatty acids (fi), and relative response factor (RRFi). CRM47885 mixture.

IUPAC name of FA Chain of FA PubChem CID Group fi RRFi Analyte Retention time, Linear range, ppm LOD, ppm LOQ, ppm
(Cc:d) min

Butanoic acid C4:0 264 SFA 0.863 3.131 C4:0 12.315 0.413–51.663 0.514 1.549
Hexanoic acid C6:0 8892 SFA 0.892 2.388 C6:0 13.244 0.409–51.150 0.442 1.350
Octanoic acid C8:0 379 SFA 0.911 1.813 C8:0 14.463 0.415–51.913 0.507 1.562
Decanoic acid C10:0 2969 SFA 0.925 1.696 C10:0 15.867 0.414–51.725 0.481 1.266
Undecanoic acid C11:0 8180 SFA 0.930 1.290 C11:0 16.630 0.414–51.800 0.383 1.151
Dodecanoic acid C12:0 3893 SFA 0.935 0.985 C12:0 17.450 0.417–52.125 0.372 0.856
Tetradecanoic acid C14:0 11,005 SFA 0.942 0.943 C14:0 19.372 0.412–51.475 0.209 0.438
Pentadecanoic acid C15:0 13,849 SFA 0.945 0.948 C15:0 20.543 0.413–51.625 0.281 0.713
(Z)-tetradec-9-enoic acid C14:1n-5 5,281,119 MUFA 0.942 0.988 C14:1n-5 20.922 0.413–51.650 0.233 0.583
Hexadecanoic acid C16:0 985 SFA 0.948 0.931 C16:0 21.961 0.563–51.650 0.483 0.725
(Z)-pentadec-10-enoic C15:1n-5 5,312,411 MUFA 0.945 1.068 C15:1n-5 22.400 0.420–52.550 0.319 0.638
acid C17:0 23.603 0.420–52.450 0.312 0.780
Heptadecanoic acid C17:0 10,465 SFA 0.951 1.200 C16:1n-7 23.843 0.412–51.450 0.202 0.566
(Z)-hexadec-9-enoic acid C16:1n-7 445,638 MUFA 0.948 0.874 C18:0 25.696 0.412–51.500 0.511 0.869
Octadecanoic acid C18:0 5281 SFA 0.953 0.993 C17:1n-7 25.914 0.414–51.775 0.237 0.521
(Z)-heptadec-10-enoic C17:1n-7 5,312,435 MUFA 0.950 0.971 C18:1n-9t 27.304 0.417–52.075 0.628 1.874
acid C18:1n-9c 27.886 0.413–51.663 0.404 1.131
(E)-octadec-9-enoic acid C18:1n-9t 637,517 MUFA 0.953 0.928 C18:2n-6t 29.484 0.418–52.250 0.305 0.702
(Z)-octadec-9-enoic acid C18:1n-9c 445,639 MUFA 0.953 0.927 C20:0 30.156 0.412–51.488 0.311 0.995
(9E,12E)-octadeca-9,12- C18:2n-6t 5,282,457 PUFA 0.952 0.818 C18:2n-6c 30.894 0.414–51.775 0.226 0.588
dienoic acid C20:1n-9 32.453 0.413–51.575 0.239 0.621
Icosanoic acid C20:0 10,467 SFA 0.957 1.055 C21:0 32.549 0.412–51.550 0.281 0.787
(9Z,12Z)-octadeca-9,12- C18:2n-6c 5,280,450 PUFA 0.952 0.946 C18:3n-6 33.238 0.409–51.125 0.412 1.030
dienoic acid C18:3n-3 34.771 0.412–51.450 0.363 0.906
(Z)-icos-11-enoic acid C20:1n-9 5,282,768 MUFA 0.957 0.892 C22:0 35.422 0.412–51.475 0.441 1.323
Henicosanoic acid C21:0 16,898 SFA 0.959 0.971 C20:2n-6 36.173 0.414–51.775 0.319 0.959
(6Z,9Z,12Z)-octadeca- C18:3n-6 5,280,933 PUFA 0.952 0.998
6,9,12-trienoic acid
(9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca- C18:3n-3 5,280,934 PUFA 0.952 0.947 accuracy of this method was investigated previously (Yurchenko et al.,
9,12,15-trienoic acid
2016), and based on the spike-and-recovery experiment.
Docosanoic acid C22:0 8215 SFA 0.960 1.142
(11E,14E)-icosa-11,14- C20:2n-6 5,282,805 PUFA 0.957 0.985
dienoic acid
2.8. Statistical analyses
Note: in the formula Cc:d the letters c and d represents the numbers of carbon atoms and
double bonds in the fatty acid chain, respectively; SFA – saturated fatty acid; MUFA – Between breeds comparisons of fatty acids proportions were per-
monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA – polyunsaturated fatty acid. formed fitting the general linear models with fixed effects of breed and
days in lactation and random effect of goat. The Benjamini-Hochberg
solution using the equation from work of Martínez, Miranda, Franco, correction for multiple testing was applied to the results of single fatty
Cepeda, and Rodríguez (2012)), fi – the conversion factor for convert acid analyses. Principal component analysis was used to uncover
FAME to FA. common patterns in fatty acid proportions. The statistical significance
Table 1 summarizes the main characteristics of FAs and factors for of breed effect on principal components was tested according to the
calculation of their content. general linear models considering fixed effects of breed and days in
In addition, the following ratios were calculated: atherogenic index lactation and random effect of goat. Results were considered statisti-
(AI), desaturase index (DI) and ratio of ω-6 and ω-3 fatty acids (ω-6/ω- cally significant at p ≤ 0.05. All statistical analyses were performed
3). DI was defined as follows: product of desaturase/substrate of de- with R 3.2.3.
saturase and calculated for three pairs of fatty acids (DI14 = C14:1n-5/
C14:0; DI16 = C16:1n-7/C16:0; DI18 = C18:1n-9c/C18:0). AI was
calculated as proposed by Ulbricht and Southgate (1991): 3. Results and discussion
AI = C12:0 + 4 * C14:0 + C16:0)/(MUFA + ω-6 + ω-3 and ω-6/ω-3
as: ω-6/ω-3 = (C18:2n-6 + C20:2n-6 + C18:3n-6)/C18:3n-3. 3.1. Chromatographic separation of FAMEs using the SLB-IL111 column

The separation of FAMEs was performed according to the method of

2.7. Method validation
The method was validated for linearity, accuracy and limit of de-
tection (LOD), and quantification (LOQ).
The linearity was determined from six concentration levels of
CRM47885 FAME solutions in heptane. Obtained analytical curves
were linear from 0.4 up to 52.0 ppm, and the values of correlation
coefficients were higher than 0.999 for all the FAMEs studied. LOD and
LOQ were calculated statistically through a linear regression line from
the calibration curve, considering that the LOD and LOQ were three and
ten times the baseline noise, respectively. The results of the calculations
of LOD and LOQ for the investigated FAMEs are shown in Table 2. The
range of obtained LOD values was from 0.202 to 0.514 ppm, and the
range of LOQ was from 0.438 to 1.874 ppm for the target FAMEs. The
Pittau et al. (2013) with a slight modification. The GC oven tempera-
ture programme was started at 80 °C to resolve the short-chain satu-
rated FAMEs, and was followed at 15 °C/min to 168 °C. During this time
the saturated FAMEs from C4:0 to C18:0, and monounsaturated isomers
were separated. The elution of consecutive FAMEs was carried out with
a subsequent temperature gradient at 5 °C/min from 168 °C to 186 °C.
Holding time at final temperature was decreased to 23 min as, by that
time, all components were eluted from the column and thus the total
run time of analysis was reduced. The separation of FAMEs on the SLB-
IL111 column using these operating conditions in the CRM47885
mixture and in extract of a Swedish Landrace goat sample are shown in
Fig. 1A and B respectively. The chromatogram of goat milk is com-
paratively complex since some compounds were detected close to the
LOD value in the sample.

328
S. Yurchenko et al.
Fig. 1. GC-FID chromatograms of fatty acid methyl esters using Supelco 100 m SLB-IL111
capillary column: (A) CRM47885 mixture and (B) Swedish landrace goat milk sample.
Peak identification: (1) C4:0; (2) C6:0; (3) C8:0; (4) C10:0; (5) C11:0; (6) C12:0; (7)
C14:0; (8) C15:0; (9) C14:1n-5; (10) C16:0; (11) C15:1n-5; (12) C17:0; (13) C16:1n-7;
(14) C18:0; (15) C17:1n-7; (16) C18:1n-9t; (17) C18:1n-9c; (18) C18:2n-6t; (19) C20:0;
(20) C18:2n-6c; (21) C20:1n-9; (22) C21:0; (23) C18:3n-6; (24) C18:3n-3; (25) C22:0;
(26) C20:2n-6; (I.S.) C13:0.
3.2. Individual and grouped fatty acids in Saanen and Swedish Landrace
goat milk
The FA content of goat milk recorded in this study is in line with an
average value of FAs in goat milk, calculated over multiple studies
(Markiewicz-Kęszycka et al., 2013). However, the results of this re-
search also indicate significant differences between the FA profiles of
Saanen and Swedish Landrace breed goat milk (Table 3, Fig. 2). The
proportions of three single fatty acids (C16:1n-7, C16:0 and C18:1n-9c),
sum of MUFAs and sum of UFAs were significantly higher in the
Swedish Landrace breed milk (Table 3), while the amount of six single
fatty acids (C4:0, C6:0, C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, and C14:0) and sum of SFAs
was significantly higher in the Saanen breed milk (Table 3). The dif-
ferences in the aforementioned fatty acids, except for C14:0, remained
significantly different between breeds also after applying the Benja-
mini-Hochberg correction for multiple testing. These findings are in
agreement with Talpur et al. (2009) who compared FA composition of
329
Food Chemistry 254 (2018) 326–332
milk from Pateri and Kamori breeds in Pakistan. However, the results
contrast with those reported by Mayer & Fiechter (2012), who studied
the milk of six goat breeds (Coloured, Pinzgau, Saanen, Strahlen, Tog-
genburg and White) in Austria. Mayer & Fiechter (2012) found no
differences in the FA content of the milk of studied breeds, recording
the amounts of the same FAs as reported in this study. The discrepancy
between these findings might arise from methodological differences
between the studies, as the proportion of measured FAs were calculated
based on 19 FAs in this research while they were based on 11 FAs in
Mayer & Fiechter (2012).
The Saanen and Swedish Landrace breed milks differ most in the
proportion of the FA C16:1n-7 (Fig. 2). This is an interesting result as
the proportion of C16:1 isomers in the goat’s milk FA profile in general
has been found to vary little (Tudisco et al., 2010; Schmidely &
Andrade, 2011; Razzaghi, Valizadeh, Naserian, Danesh Mesgaran, &
Rashidi, 2014). Large differences in the C16:1 major isomers have been
reported in studies which have manipulated animal diets (Morsy et al.,
2015) or related to pasture and lactation stage (Eknæs, Kolstad, Volden,
& Hove, 2005; Stralkowska et al., 2009). In the current study, these
factors were identical between breeds.
In addition to FA C16:1n-7, the proportions of FA C18:1n-9c were
also higher in milk from the Saanen breed. Such a unidirectional shift in
the C16:1 and C18:1 isomers has been frequently reported in studies
which do not focus in feeding (Stralkowska et al., 2009; Talpur et al.,
2009; Pittau et al., 2013). This pattern can be explained by the natural
tendency of ruminants (including goats), to produce equilibria between
SFA, MUFA and PUFA. As these equilibria can differ between breeds, it
also supports the effect of breed on the FA profile.
The proportion of C16:1 and C18:1 major isomers in milk can be
influenced by feeding, as demonstrated in various studies which have
reported an increase in one or the other (Bernard et al., 2005; Bernard,
Bonnet, Leroux, Shingfield, & Chilliard, 2009; Ollier et al., 2009;
Martínez Marín et al., 2012). Indeed, fatty acids C12 to C16 and C18:1
have been found to be most sensitive to feeding. While approximately
half of long-chain FAs (≥C18) in ruminants’ milk are derived from the
diet, the majority of smaller, C4:0–C14:0 FAs originate from de novo FA
synthesis in the mammary gland. Interestingly, C16 can be synthesized
from both the diet and the mammary grand (Palmquist, 2006). Feeding
and housing conditions were identical for the two breeds in this study.
Therefore, the higher proportions of most SFAs and lower proportions
of C16:0, C16:1 and C18:1 in the Saanen breed milk than in Swedish
Landrace milk clearly suggests a breed effect.
The principal component analysis indicates that there is no strong
common pattern among fatty acids in goats’ milk (Fig. 3). The first four
principal components account for 48.7% and the first two principal
components 30.6% of the total fatty acids’ variability (Fig. 3A). The first
axes of the principal component distinguishes the two breeds, sup-
porting the importance of breed and describing 20.1% of variability in
FA content of goat’s milk (Fig. 3B). The second and following principal
components, which account for less variability, describe the in-
dividuality of goats and possibly also the effect of sampling time.
3.3. Ratios between fatty acids
We used three ratios (DI14, DI16 and DI18) to estimate fatty acid
desaturase activity and get an indication of the syntheses of unsaturated
FAs. All of these ratios represent the product/substrate relationship for
desaturase, but DI14 has been found to be the most appropriate result
since all of the C14:0 in milk fat is produced via de novo synthesis in the
mammary gland (Corl, Baumgard, Bauman, & Griinari, 2000). In this
study, the Saanen and Swedish Landrace breeds’ milks differed in their
DI16 ratio (Table 3). Higher desaturase activity found in the milk of
Swedish Landrace goats compared to Saanen, likely contributed to re-
corded significantly higher proportion of C18:1n-9t and C16:1n-7
(Table 3; Fig. 2).
The overall atherogenic index (AI) level in the current study was
S. Yurchenko et al. Food Chemistry 254 (2018) 326–332

Table 3
Least square mean ( ± standard errors; SE) of goat milk fatty acids (FA) proportions (g/100 g total fatty acids) produced by Saanen and Swedish Landrace breeds. Differences between
breeds are tested with general linear models, P-value indicates statistical difference between breeds (bold when less than 0.05 and considered significant).

FA Saanen Mean ( ± SE) Swedish Landrace Mean ( ± SE) Percentage change, % P-value

Single fatty acids

C4:0 2.09 (0.04) 1.85 (0.03) 12.97 < 0.001
C6:0 3.64 (0.08) 3.03 (0.07) 20.13 < 0.001
C8:0 4.04 (0.09) 3.58 (0.08) 12.85 < 0.001
C10:0 11.20 (0.19) 9.91 (0.16) 13.02 < 0.001
C12:0 5.31 (0.14) 4.53 (0.12) 17.22 < 0.001
C14:0 10.50 (0.32) 9.57 (0.27) 9.72 0.028
C15:0 0.87 (0.05) 0.91 (0.04) 4.60 0.535
C14:1n-5 0.23 (0.01) 0.21 (0.01) 9.52 0.219
C16:0 24.30 (0.34) 26.00 (0.28) 7.00 < 0.001
C15:1n-5 0.20 (0.02) 0.18 (0.01) 11.11 0.326
C17:0 0.67 (0.06) 0.76 (0.05) 13.43 0.253
C16:1n-7 0.53 (0.05) 1.00 (0.04) 88.68 < 0.001
C18:0 11.10 (0.29) 11.4 (0.25) 2.70 0.327
C18:1n-9t 0.35 (0.02) 0.31 (0.02) 12.90 0.170
C18:1n-9c 21.00 (0.54) 22.80 (0.45) 8.57 0.009
C20:0 0.33 (0.02) 0.31 (0.02) 6.45 0.593
C18:2n-6c 2.68 (0.14) 2.49 (0.12) 7.63 0.268
C18:3n-3 0.55 (0.04) 0.54 (0.03) 1.85 0.764
C20:2n-6 0.36 (0.04) 0.32 (0.04) 12.50 0.397

Sums of fatty acids*

PUFA 3.56 (0.14) 3.32 (0.12) 7.23 0.198
MUFA 22.30 (0.56) 24.50 (0.46) 9.87 0.002
UFA 25.80 (0.59) 27.80 (0.48) 7.75 0.006
SFA 73.90 (0.68) 71.90 (0.58) 2.78 0.020
ω-6 3.00 (0.13) 2.79 (0.11) 7.53 0.220

Ratios of fatty acids**

ω-6/ω-3 6.05 (0.57) 6.33 (0.49) 4.63 0.704
AI 2.77 (0.08) 2.47 (0.07) 12.15 0.005
DI14 0.02 (0.00) 0.023 (0.00) 0.00 0.951
DI16 0.02 (0.00) 0.039 (0.00) 77.27 < 0.001
DI18 1.92 (0.05) 2.01 (0.05) 4.69 0.231

* PUFA – polyunsaturated fatty acid; MUFA – monounsaturated fatty acid; UFA – unsaturated fatty acids; SFA – saturated fatty acid; ω-C18:2n-6 + C20:2n-6 + C18:3n-6.
** ω-6/ω-3 = (C18:2n-6 + C20:2n-6 + C18:3n-6)/C18:3n-3; AI = (C12:0 + 4 * C14:0 + C16:0)/(MUFA + ω-6 + ω-3); DI14 = C14:1n-5/C14:0, DI16 = C16:1n-7/C16:0,
DI18 = C18:1n-9c/C18:0

similar to earlier findings (Markiewicz-Kęszycka et al., 2013; Ayeb
et al., 2015; Haile et al., 2016). However, significant differences be-
tween breeds indicated that milk from the Swedish Landrace breed had
a significantly lower AI ratio (Table 3). This information is important as
consumption of products with lower AI values can decrease the total
cholesterol and the LDL-cholesterol in human blood plasma (Poppitt
et al., 2002). From the food production point of view, Bobe, Hammond,
Freeman, Lindberg, and Beitz (2003) described that butter prepared
from milk samples with a lower AI, were more spreadable and less
adhesive.
The results of this research did not indicate significant differences in
the proportions of ω-3 and ω-6 and their ratios in the FA profile

Fig. 2. Volcano plot displaying the fold change of fatty

acids proportion (fold change = mean proportion among
Saanen breed/mean proportion among Swedish Landrace
breed; x-axis) versus the significance of the difference (y-
axis). Fatty acids with the highest proportion among
Swedish Landrace breed are in the upper left corner, fatty
acids with the highest proportion among the Saanen breed
are in the upper right corner. Dotted lines denote the
thresholds for 1.5-times difference and for p = 0.05 and
p = 0.001; crosses mark single fatty acids, and filled circles
and triangles with bold face mark summed fatty acids and
fatty acids’ proportions, respectively.

330
S. Yurchenko et al.
between breeds (Table 3). This probably resulted from similar feeding
of the goats. The observed ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is
similar to earlier findings (Ceballos et al., 2009; Markiewicz-Kęszycka
et al., 2013; Haile et al., 2016). However, this ratio is higher than re-
commended to reduce the risk of the chronic cardiovascular diseases,
common in Western societies but also in the developing countries
(Simopoulos, 2008).
4. Conclusions
The health beneficial properties are linked to the fatty acid profile of
goat milk. However, breed as an impact factor on the fatty acid profile
of goat milk has been little studied. This research indicated that FA
profile in the milk of Saanen goats differs from that of Swedish
Landrace goats. Compared to Swedish Landrace goats, milk from
Saanen goats has higher proportions of most de novo synthesized SFA-s
and lower proportions of C16:0, C16:1 and C18:1. Additionally, as a
contribution to further studies, the SLB-IL 111 column operating con-
ditions for analysing fatty acid isomers in goat milk were validated.
Future studies on the fatty acid profile should include goat breed as a
factor, which ultimately should lead to optimal requirements for peo-
ple’s need for dairy products.
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