Fatty acids in bovine milk fat

Abstract

Milk fat contains approximately 400 different fatty acid, which make it the most complex of all natural fats. The milk fatty acids are derived almost equally from two sources, the feed and the microbial activity in the rumen of the cow and the lipids in bovine milk are mainly present in globules as an oil-in-water emulsion. Almost 70% of the fat in Swedish milk is saturated of which around 11% comprises short-chain fatty acids, almost half of which is butyric acid. Approximately 25% of the fatty acids in milk are mono-unsaturated and 2.3% are poly-unsaturated with omega-6/omega-3 ratio around 2.3.  Approximately 2.7% are trans fatty acids.

Keywords: milk fat; fatty acid composition; bovine

(Published online: 11 June, 2008)

Citation: Food & Nutrition Research 2008. DOI: 10.3402/fnr.v52i0.1821