Effect of dietary fat on the retention of calcium and phosphorus in buffaloes (Bos bubalis)

Abstract

SUMMARYFive feeding and metabolism trials were conducted on buffaloes fed different amounts of groundnut oil as a source of supplemental fat. Ca and P retentions were determined. The first two trials were conducted on 12 and 16 milch buffaloes and the other three trials on 15, 15 and 4 buffalo bulls. The dietary fat ranged from 1·32 to 6·00% of the ration in milch buffaloes and 0·51 to 6·33% in buffalo bulls. The retentions of Ca and P did not differ significantly with the percentage of fat in the ration. This showed that the phenomenon of formation of Ca soaps with fatty acids in non-ruminants with consequent wastage of Ca does not seem to be applicable to ruminants which have a much lower pH in the duodenum and upper jejunum. It is concluded that under practical conditions of feeding, within the usual range of dietary fat in ruminants, there is no likelihood of an adverse effect on Ca and P nutrition such as is encountered in non-ruminants on high-fat diets.