capitolo 15

Ann. Fac. Medic. Vet. di Parma (Vol. XXIII, 2003) - pag. 175 - pag. 179
CASEIN NUMBER VARIABILITY
OF MARE MILK FROM HAFLINGER
AND ITALIAN SADDLE HORSE BREEDS1
P. Formaggioni2, M. Malacarne2, F. Martuzzi2, A. Summer2, P. Mariani2
Introduction
Mare’s milk is the most important nutritional resource for the foal during the initial weeks of life. Since centuries, in Central Asia, it is the basic staple for the Koumiss production [1, 2]. Because of its peculiar chemical and nutritional characteristics
[3], recently mare’s milk is utilised also in human nutrition and for cosmetics [4]. This
arouses new interest for the study of mare’s milk, in particular concerning the effect of
genetic, physiological and feeding factors on organic and inorganic milk components
[5-7]. The effects of breed and physiological state are not yet well defined [8-13], in
particular concerning the percentage distribution of the nitrogen fractions [14]. The
casein number (casein nitrogen x 100/ total nitrogen) represents a good index of the
protein outline of mare’s milk. Aim of this research was to study the casein number
variability in milk in relation to the physiological state for Haflinger and Italian Saddle, two horse breeds bred with different purposes: Haflinger is a medium-small sized,
sturdy horse bred for light draft and leisure riding; Italian Saddle is athletic and tall,
bred for show jumping.
Materials and methods
The survey was carried out on 126 individual milk samples yielded from 3rd to
150th d post-partum (DIM), 70 from 5 Haflinger mares (H) (age: 7÷15 years; parities:
4÷12; liveweight: 400÷520 kg) and 56 from 12 Italian Saddle mares (IS) (age: 6÷21
years; parities: 1÷16; liveweight: 500÷650 kg). Milk was taken by hand milking from
a single mammary gland, milked as deep as possible, in presence of the foal, that was
previously prevented from suckling for 1 – 2 hours by a muzzle. The mares were fed
hay and perennial rye grass in prevalence and lucerne ad libitum. Haflinger mares
received from 0.5 to 2.5 kg of concentrate; Italian Saddle mares from 2 to 4 kg of
concentrate. The milk samples were subdivided into 5 periods according to the DIM:
1: from 3 to 15 (10 H vs 8 IS); 2: from 16 to 30 (10 vs 12); 3: from 31 to 60 (18 vs 20);
4: from 61 to 90 (12 vs 10); 5: from 91 to 150 (20 vs 6). The following nitrogen
fractions were determined by means of Kjeldahl on each milk sample: total N (TN) on
milk and non-casein N (NCN) on acid whey at pH 4.6, according to Aschaffenburg
and Drewry [15]. From these nitrogen fractions the following variables were obtained:
casein N (CN = TN - NCN), casein number (CN x 100/TN). Parameters were submitted
1
2
Poster presented at the 15th A.S.P.A. Congress, Parma, June 18-20, 2003.
Scienze Zootecniche e Qualità delle Produzioni Animali - Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali,
Biotecnologie Veterinarie, Qualità e Sicurezza degli Alimenti - Università degli Studi; Via del Taglio 8,
43100 Parma.
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Ann. Fac. Medic. Vet. di Parma (Vol. XXIII, 2003) - pag. 175 - pag. 179
to ANOVA, using a mixed model (fixed factors: breed, lactation period; coefficient of
regression: parities number; random factor: mare nested into breed).
Results and conclusions
Total N and casein N contents and casein number vary significantly in relation to
lactation stage (Figure 1) and breed (Table 1), while variations related to number of
parities were not observed. During the five months of lactation, a significant decrease
was observed for the three variables: 47.75% for CN, 42.69% for TN and 5 percentage
units for casein number. The decrease for CN was more relevant than for TN between
the first and the second lactation period. This fact causes a significant decrease of
casein number (about 3 percentage units) in the second with respect to the first period.
From the second period onwards, casein number values were statistically not different.
In the first period, the CN content decrease resulted more accentuated in H than IS.
Consequently, casein number values of H resulted significantly lower from the second
to the fourth period. No differences were observed in the fifth period. However, casein
number trends in the two breeds were statistically not different. The results evidenced
that casein number shows a significant decrease from the 3rd to the 150th DIM. In
particular, the decrease is markedly accentuated between the first and the second period.
As regards breed differences, IS is characterised by higher values in comparison to H,
from the second to the fourth period. According to most Authors, excluding colostrum
and the short transition phase, lactation stage shouldn’t have a significant effect on the
casein number trend [10, 14, 16, 17].
Minieri and Intrieri [10], e. g., for the milk of H mares, from d 3 to d 180 of
lactation, found values that fluctuate very little around 67.5%. On the other hand,
Neseni et al. [18] and Storch [1] observed an irregular trend and variable values, that
57
d
b
400
55
c
b
ab
a
300
d
a
a
200
c
a
b
ab
2
3
4
51
a
100
1
53
a
Casein number, %
TN and CN, mg/100g
500
5
49
Period
Figure 1 – Trends of Total N (—◆—) and Casein N (—■—) contents and Casein Number (- -∆- -) in
mares milk during lactation. Different letters (a, b, c) differ significantly for P<0.05.
Figura 1 – Andamenti dei contenuti di azoto totale (—◆—) e di azoto non caseinico (—■—) e dell’indice
di caseina (- -∆- -) nel latte di cavalla nel corso della lattazione. Lettere differenti (a, b, c) differiscono
significativamente per P<0,05.
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Ann. Fac. Medic. Vet. di Parma (Vol. XXIII, 2003) - pag. 175 - pag. 179
Table 1 – Trends of Total N and Casein N contents and Casein Number in Haflinger and Italian Saddle
Horse breeds during lactation (Mean values±SE).
Tabella 1 – Variazioni dei contenuti di azoto totale e azoto caseinico e dell’indice di caseina nel latte di
cavalle Avelignese e Sella Italiano durante la lattazione (Media±ES).
Total Nitrogen
Period (DIM)
1
(3÷15)
2
(16÷30)
3
(31÷60)
4
(61÷90)
5
(91÷150)
Azoto totale
mg / 100 g
H
IS
478±14 504±17
335±14 383±15
284±11 358±11
280±13 330±17
264±10 293±20
Casein N
Azoto caseina
mg / 100 g
H
IS
265±8
282±10
170±8
206±8
140±6
188±6
140±7
175±10
133±6
150±11
P
a
c
a
Casein Number
P
b
c
b
Indice caseina
%
H
IS
55.23±1.1 56.30±1.3
50.41±1.1 53.69±1.1
48.98±0.8 52.55±0.8
49.84±1.0 53.09±1.3
50.20±0.8 51.28±1.5
P
a
b
a
a, P≤0.05; b, P≤0.01; c, P≤0.001
DIM: Days in milk; H: Haflinger; IS: Italian Saddle
DIM: Giorni di lattazione; H: Avelignese; IS: Sella Italiano
showed the tendency to increase in the final period of the lactation. On the contrary,
Rozhanskii et al. [19] and Mariani et al. [7] found no variations in relation to lactation
period.
Keywords: mare milk, Haflinger, Italian Saddle, lactation stage, casein number
Parole chiave: latte di cavalla, Avelignese, Sella Italiano, stadio di lattazione, indice
di caseina
SUMMARY - The variability of casein number of Haflinger and Italian Saddle mare
milk was studied. The research was carried out on 126 individual milk samples, 70
from Haflinger mares and 56 from Italian Saddle mares, collected throughout five
months of lactation (from the 3rd to the 150th day). The content of total nitrogen and
non-casein nitrogen were determined, from which the casein number values were
calculated. Casein number registered a significant decrease throughout the lactation,
particularly accentuated during the first month. From the second part of the first month
to the third month, Haflinger mares had significantly lower values for casein number
compared to Italian Saddle mares.
RIASSUNTO – Variabilità dell’indice di caseina del latte di cavalle Avelignesi e
Sella Italiano.
È stata studiata la variabilità dell’indice caseina del latte in cavalle di razza
Avelignese e di razza Sella Italiano. L’analisi ha interessato 126 campioni di latte
individuale, di cui 70 Avelignese e 56 Sella Italiano, raccolti nel corso di cinque mesi
di lattazione (dal 3° al 150° giorno). Sono stati determinati i contenuti di azoto totale
e azoto non caseinico e calcolati i valori dell’indice di caseina. L’indice di caseina
registra un calo significativo nel corso della lattazione, particolarmente accentuato
durante il primo mese. La razza Avelignese presenta valori dell’indice
significativamente inferiori nei confronti della razza Sella Italiano a partire dalla
seconda metà del primo mese di lattazione fino al terzo mese.
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Ann. Fac. Medic. Vet. di Parma (Vol. XXIII, 2003) - pag. 175 - pag. 179
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