Colostrum provides essential nutrients and immune factors that newborn piglets can absorb only within the first 24 h after birth. Fatty acids are essential for neonatal physiology, supporting thermoregulation, neurodevelopment, and immune function, and serving as a key energy source to reduce hypothermia and mortality in piglets. However, information on the fatty acid composition of sow colostrum under tropical conditions and its relationship with reproductive performance remains limited, warranting further investigation to improve piglet survival. This study evaluated the fatty acid profile of sow colostrum under tropical production conditions and examined its associations with reproductive traits. Colostrum samples were collected within 1 h postpartum from 30 Landrace × Yorkshire sows in a commercial herd in Thailand. Samples were obtained from 4–6 randomly selected teats per sow (≥15 ml), stored at 4 °C during collection, and frozen at −20 °C until analysis. Fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography using a Supelco SP-2560 capillary column. Sows were classified according to parity, gestation length, farrowing duration, litter size, and oxytocin use during farrowing. On average, sows farrowed 13.1 ± 3.2 piglets per litter, with 11.8 ± 2.7 piglets born alive, and a mean farrowing duration of 206 ± 102 min. The predominant fatty acids in colostrum were oleic acid (C18:1n9c; 35.6 ± 2.2 g/100 g total fatty acids), palmitic acid (C16:0; 28.3 ± 2.0 g/100 g), and linoleic acid (C18:2n6c; 22.5 ± 1.9 g/100 g). Oleic acid was positively correlated with total piglets born (r = 0.417, P = 0.022) and piglets born alive (r = 0.467, P = 0.009), whereas palmitic acid was negatively correlated with total piglets born (r = −0.467, P = 0.009), piglets born alive (r = −0.489, P = 0.006), and farrowing duration (r = −0.532, P = 0.003). Linoleic acid was positively correlated with gestation length (r = 0.497, P = 0.005) and farrowing duration (r = 0.539, P = 0.002). Palmitic acid was negatively associated with both oleic acid (r = −0.610, P < 0.001) and linoleic acid (r = −0.513, P = 0.004). These results indicate that colostrum fatty acid composition is associated with maternal reproductive traits and may influence early neonatal energy supply under tropical conditions.
Datrianto et al. (Thu,) studied this question.