Influence of Seasonal Variation on Fatty Acid Composition and Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Milk Fat

Abstract

Cow milk fat was found to be more unsaturated than buffalo milk fat on account of its   higher percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (28.17) than buffalo milk fat (22.96) . The butyro –refractometer (BR) reading for buffalo milk fat ranged from 40.4 to 41.2 (mean 40.7± 0.17), while for cow milk fat ranged from 41.4 to 42.6 (mean 42.2±0.11). The iodine values for buffalo and cow milk fats ranged from 27.41 to 34.13 (mean 30.60±0.44) and 30.82 to 35.77 (mean 34.30±0.49), respectively. The critical temperature of dissolution (CTD) values for buffalo and cow milk fat ranged from 49.3 to 53.2°C and 50.4 to 53.7°C with an average of 51.4°C± 0.13 and 52.3°C±0.12, respectively. Seasons exerted slight influence on the fatty acid make up as well as on the physico-chemical characteristics studied.