Effects of buffers on milk fatty acids and mammary arteriovenous differences in dairy cows fed Ca salts of fatty acids

Ten Holstein cows in early lactation were used in a replicated 5 X 5 Latin square design to study the effects of MgO and three buffers added to diets containing Ca salts of canola oil fatty acids. Treatments were 1) control (basal diet; no buffer), 2) 1.1% NaHCO3 plus 1.1% KHCO3, 3) 1.9% NaHCO3, 4) 0.5% MgO, and 5) 2.0% Na sesquicarbonate (percentage of dry matter). The control diet contained 53% grass silage, 43% concentrate, and 4% Ca salts. Body weight, intake, milk yield, and percentages of milk fat, protein, and lactose were unaffected by treatments. Buffers and MgO tended to increase triacylglycerol extraction by the mammary gland and changed the proportions of some fatty acids in milk. Arterial concentrations of acetate and triacylglycerol were correlated with their respective arteriovenous differences. Extraction by the mammary gland was high for acetate (approximately 58.2%), triacylglycerol (approximately 47.3%), propionate (approximately 34.6%), and glucose (approximately 24.3%). Extraction of free fatty acids, phospholipids, or cholesterol was negligible. Mammary triacylglycerol arteriovenous difference tended to be higher when MgO was fed than when NaHCO3 was fed. Sodium sesquicarbonate, NaHCO3, and the blend of bicarbonate buffers increased C18:2 in milk fat when compared with the control treatment. The concentration of C18:2 in milk fat decreased when MgO was fed, but the ratio of cis-C18:1 to trans-C18:1 increased compared with effects of dietary NaHCO3. Medium-chain fatty acids in milk fat tended to be higher with Na sesquicarbonate than with NaHCO3. Buffers and MgO modified the profiles of fatty acids in milk