Changes in the composition of bovine milk fat during milking

Abstract

Summary Fat analyses were carried out on fore-milk and residual milk samples to elucidate the significance of the changes in fatty-acid composition of milk fat during milking previously reported by other workers. The levels of phospholipid in fore-milk samples per unit weight of fat were considerably higher than those of residual milk samples. The fatty acid composition of the triglyceride in fore-milk and residual milk samples was similar. These results suggest that the differences in fatty acid composition of milk fat collected during milking can be attributed to decreases in the relative amount of phospholipid-rich globule membrane associated with increasing globule diameter.