The yak milk fatty acid composition analysis

The purpose of research is to study the fatty acid composition of yak milk that lives in the high mountain pastures of the Tien Shan and At-Bashyn ranges of Kyrgyzstan. The object of the study is yak milk of autumn milk yield. Samples for analysis were taken in the village of Ak-Sai, the Naryn Region. The Ak-Sai valley is a high-altitude syrt plain. The absolute heights of extreme points are 2750-3800 m above sea level. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of yak milk was determined by gas chromatography on an Agilent 6890 chromatograph. Sample preparation and gas chromatographic determination of the fatty acid content were performed using standard methods (GOST 32915-2014 "Milk and dairy products. Determination of the fatty acid composition of the fat phase by gas chromatography"). The content of saturated fatty acids in yak milk, such as caprylic and capric (0.75 and 1.5 %, respectively), is lower in comparison with other types of milk: caprylic acid in cow's milk is 1.13 %, and in goat's milk - 2, 4; capric in cow's milk - 2.55, in goat's milk is much more - 8.5 %. The content of palmitic acid in the studied yak milk is higher (33.7 %) by an average of 6% compared to cow and goat milk (29 and 26.6 %, respectively). In yak milk, the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids is approximately 4% higher than in cow's milk and 6 % higher than in goat's milk. The milk of the yak, which lives in the mountain pastures of the Tien Shan, is not inferior in fatty acid composition to cow and goat milk and has a higher content of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which gives it a functional orientation. Such features of alternative dairy raw materials are associated with the place and conditions of the high-altitude habitat of yaks, the presence of certain plant foods that differ from the lowland flora, and other factors.