Anila Mushtaq defends her PhD dissertation on milk quality

Mrs Anila Mushtaq, PhD student of NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar defended her PhD thesis on Effect of Physiological States on Milk Fatty Acids Profiles in Dairy Cows and Buffaloes. Her work was supervised by Prof M Subhan Qureshi, Chairman LM and assisted by Prof Ghulam Habib, Prof Zahoor Swati and Dr Sarzamin Khan. The research work was completed in collaboration with IBGE and CR Lab, Peshawar University.

The study has come up with useful recommendations for various stakeholders. The dairy producers have been advised to keep the animals in moderate body condition to get higher concentrations of healthier milk fatty acids, support higher milk yield and fertility while preventing extra expenditures on overfeeding. It will also prevent higher concentrations of critical fatty acids. The postpartum drastic loss in the BCS associated with increased milk yield, may be minimized by appropriate feeding and management strategies.

For medical practitioners it has been suggested that the milk from crossbred dairy cows in early lactation may be preferred for consumption by the elderly people because of their higher concentrations of cardioprotective fatty acids (CPFA). The hyper-cholesterolimic acids (HCFA) and CPFA in milk deserve major consideration for human health rather than total saturated (SFA) and unsaturated (UFA) concentrations.

For researchers the study has recommended to identify key biological and management elements for producing healthier milk from dairy cows and buffaloes. Investigations are required for devising feeding strategies for contributing appropriate FA precursors to the blood pool for producing healthier milk. The desaturase system in the body of dairy animals needs to be identified and supported.