Animals (Sep 2021)

Effect of Increased Salt Water Intake on the Production and Composition of Dairy Goat Milk

  • Roberto Germano Costa,
  • Rayssa M. Bezerril Freire,
  • Gherman Garcia Leal de Araújo,
  • Rita de Cássia Ramos do Egypto Queiroga,
  • Gutemberg Nascimento Paiva,
  • Neila Lidiany Ribeiro,
  • Ronaldo Lopes Oliveira,
  • Rubén Domínguez,
  • José M. Lorenzo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092642
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 9
p. 2642

Abstract

Read online

Due to its necessity and magnitude, water is essential for animal nutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of water salinity on the quality of goat milk in the Brazilian semiarid region. Twenty-four multiparous Alpine goats, with an average live weight of 38.0 ± 4.0 kg and an average lactation period of 30 days, distributed entirely at random, were used. The experiment lasted 64 days including an initial period of 14 days of adaption to the diet. The experimental treatments consisted of water with different levels of total dissolved solids (TDS): 640, 3188, 5740, and 8326 mg L−1, obtained using sodium chloride (NaCl). Increasing the levels of TDS in drinking water from 640 to 8326 mg L−1 did not significantly (p > 0.05) affect the production and the physicochemical composition of the milk. There was a linear increase (p −1. There was no negative effect (p > 0.05) for any of the sensorial attributes analyzed in relation to the treatments. Therefore, as a general conclusion, based on the analyses carried out in this experiment, it was found that water with total dissolved solids, when supplied for short periods of up to 48 days, does not alter the production, physicochemical characteristics, or the organoleptic properties of goat’s milk.

Keywords