Anatomy and Physiology of Water Buffalo Mammary Glands: An Anatomofunctional Comparison with Dairy Cattle
Daniel Mota-Rojas,
Fabio Napolitano,
Alfonso Chay-Canul,
Marcelo Ghezzi,
Ada Braghieri,
Adriana Domínguez-Oliva,
Andrea Bragaglio,
Adolfo Álvarez-Macías,
Adriana Olmos-Hernández,
Giuseppe De Rosa,
Ricardo García-Herrera,
Pamela Lendez,
Corrado Pacelli,
Aldo Bertoni,
Vittoria Lucia Barile
Affiliations
Daniel Mota-Rojas
Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Fabio Napolitano
Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Alfonso Chay-Canul
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa 86040, Mexico
Marcelo Ghezzi
Anatomy Area, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (FCV), Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), University Campus, Tandil 7000, Argentina
Ada Braghieri
Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Adriana Domínguez-Oliva
Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Andrea Bragaglio
Research Centre for Engineering and Food Processing, Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis (CREA), Via Milano 43, 24047 Treviglio, Italy
Adolfo Álvarez-Macías
Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Adriana Olmos-Hernández
Division of Biotechnology—Bioterio and Experimental Surgery, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación-Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra (INR-LGII), Mexico City 14389, Mexico
Giuseppe De Rosa
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy
Ricardo García-Herrera
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa 86040, Mexico
Pamela Lendez
Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (FCV), Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, CIVETAN, UNCPBA-CICPBA-CONICET (UNCPBA), University Campus, Tandil 7000, Argentina
Corrado Pacelli
Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Aldo Bertoni
Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Vittoria Lucia Barile
Research Centre for Animal Production and Aquaculture, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA), Via Salaria 31, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
The present review aims to analyze the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the mammary gland and udders of water buffalo by making an anatomofunctional comparison with dairy cattle. It will also discuss the knowledge generated around the physiological regulation of milk ejection in the water buffalo. It was found that buffalo’s average udder depth and width is approximately 20 cm smaller than Bos cattle. One of the main differences with dairy cattle is a longer teat canal length (around 8.25–11.56 cm), which highly influences buffalo milking. In this sense, a narrower teat canal (2.71 ± 0.10 cm) and thicker sphincter muscle are associated with needing higher vacuum levels when using machine milking in buffalo. Moreover, the predominant alveolar fraction of water buffalo storing 90–95% of the entire milk production is another element that can be related to the lower milk yields in buffalo (when compared to Bos cattle) and the requirements for prolonged prestimulation in this species. Considering the anatomical characteristics of water buffalo’s udder could help improve bubaline dairy systems.
