Comparative Analysis of Fat and Protein Content in Milk from Alpine and Carpathian Goats

Abstract

Goat milk shows important variations of fat and protein content, which may be due to morpho-physiological particularities of breed and specific characteristics of the geographical area. For this specie, fat and protein concentrations are fundamental indices for assessing both nutritional and biological value of milk. Such arguments were the basis of the present work, focused on the analysis of breed as a major factor of influence on the percentage of fat and protein in goat milk. Six samples of raw milk from Alpine (n = 12) and Carpathian goats (n = 12), representing two of the most widespread breeds in central Transylvania, were studied. The research included clinically healthy animals, selected from a herd of 60 goats of a commercial farm. The investigations involved the determination of the main physicochemical parameters of freshly milked milk samples using a semi-automatic analyzer type Ekomilk M (Milkana Kam 98-2). Data from the biochemical analysis of the two samples of milk revealed higher percentages of fat and protein for Alpine breed compared to the Carpathian breed, the differences being relevant for their individual and mean values reported for these parameters. Thus, fat percentage varied between the minimum of 5.42g% and the maximum of 7.04g% for Alpine goats milk, and between 4.27g% and 5.0g%, for Carpathian goats milk. Protein percentages followed a similar trend varying between a minimum of 3.87g% and maximum of 4.27g% for Alpine goats milk and from the minimum of 4.03g% and maximum of 4.09g% for Carpathian goats milk. The overall analysis of the results obtained for the concentration of fat and protein in investigated milk samples revealed higher degree of grassland capitalization by French Alpine breed goats compared to the indigenous Carpathian breed, in central Transylvania.