The fatty acids profile of milk from local Nubian and exotic goats (Damascus, Mazain and Alpine) in Khartoum State, Sudan

Aim: The current study was designed to investigate and compare the fatty acids (FAs) levels and profile of milk from Nubian, Damascus, Mazain and Alpine goats found in Khartoum State. Methods: Milk samples were collected from 145 goat breeds and analyzed for FA profile during the first 6 months of lactation. Gas chromatography was used to estimate the individual FA, and the Duncan Multiple Range test using SPSS program was used for the statistical analysis of the generated data. Results: The FA profile of goat milk revealed significant (P < 0.05) variation among breeds with the progress of lactation. At the same time, it showed non-significant (P > 0.05) differences for all parity orders in studied goat breeds. The higher means (g/100 g) of short chain FA (SCFAs), medium chain FA (MCFAs) and long chain FA (LCFAs) content of milk were recorded in Alpine (13.55), Damascus (40.03) and Nubian (51.80) goat breeds, respectively. The SCFAs and MCFAs content of milk of goats in the 1st to 2nd, 3rd to 4th and 5th to 6th months of lactation were significantly (P < 0.05) different. A different pattern was also found for the LCFA of milk, which increased in the 5th to 6th months of lactation compared to the 1st to 2nd months of lactation in all goat breeds. Conclusion: This study concluded that goat milk contains FAs for nutritional and health values. However, there were significant effects due to variations of the breeds of goat as well as their progress of lactation on the individual estimated FA of goat milk.