Abstract :
Milk in the udder can be split into two fractions: available, obtained after conventional
milking and residual, which can only be removed after oxytocin injection or suckling by the
offspring. In order to compare the chemical composition, mainly the fatty acid (FA) profile,
of available and residual ovine milk, thirty-two ewes, divided into four treatments and fed
with diets supplemented with 3% of palm, olive, soybean and linseed oil, were milked before
and after intravenous oxytocin injection. Residual milk represents almost 12% of total milk,
and its fat percentage was higher than that for available milk (11.7 vs 8.8%). Although FA
composition was modified by the diets, only a slight decrease in 16:0 content was observed
in residual milk with respect to available milk in the four diets assayed. Therefore, despite
large differences in fat content, the FA profiles for available and residual ewe milk do not
differ
