Andamento degli acidi grassi nel latte di asina nel corso della lattazione

Aiming to evaluate the trend of fatty acids during the lactation in donkey milk, six pluriparous Martina Franca donkeys, bred in an organic farm and fed with coarse hay and mix feed, were machine milked, every 28 days, from the 3rd until to the 7th month of lactation. The acidic composition of the individual milk samples was determined by GC-FID/MS and some ratios of nutritional interest and the atherogenic (AI) and thrombogenic (TI) indices were calculated. Data were submitted to ANOVA considering the variable: month of lactation. Results showed an decrease of the saturated fatty acids, an increase of the linolenic acid and of the unsaturated fatty acids and the best AI and TI during the 6th and 7th months of lactation, therefore an improvement of the dietetic and nutritional characteristics of the milk during the last phase of lactation. Results suggested that the month of lactation affects essential aspects of donkey milk as an alternative food for infancy.