Abstract

Bovine milk is one of the most complete foods that exist. During the last decades, milk FA have shown to improve human health due to the reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease and related pathologies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) reflectance analysis to predict the nutritional value, fatty acid (FA) composition, and health index of fresh milk from dairy cows of pastoral systems. The prediction of Atherogenicity and Thrombogenicity indexes, along with other FA ratios in fresh milk samples by NIRS were precise and accurate. In addition, the calibration model obtained by NIRS provides an opportunity for the routine quantification of milk's healthy FA such as omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), with applications in the dairy industry for food labeling, and at the farm level for management of the dairy cow's diet.