Effects of Adding Rumen-Protected Palm Oil in Diet on Milk Fatty Acid Profile and Lipid Health Indices in Kivircik Ewes

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding 3% rumen-protected palm oil on milk fatty acid profile and lipid health indices in Kivircik ewes. For this purpose Kivircik ewes with approximately the same body weight were used. Treatment increased the palmitic acid (C16:0) content of milk compared to the control group (p<0.05) and tended to increase saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). An increase in SFA and MUFA was attributed to an increase in palmitic acid and oleic acid (C18:1), respectively. Results indicated that n-6/n-3 ratio ranged between 0.61-2.63, indicating that milk fat produced in this study had health-promoting effect. Inclusion of palm oil in the diet tended to increase desirable fatty acids (DFA) regardless of week milk sampled (p>0.05). Even treatment did not improve atherogenicity index (AI), thrombogenicity index (TI), health-promoting index (HPI), and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (h/H) ratio, they were still in the range reported in the literature thus implying that milk obtained from this study was not harmful to consumer’s health. Results showed that adding rumen-protected palm oil is an effective method to increase the energy density of ration and thus energy intake of ewes required during lactation without negatively affecting lipid health indices.