About this Research Topic

Background

Milk fatty acids are crucial components of dairy products, significantly influencing their nutritional quality, flavor, and shelf life. Given their impact on various aspects of dairy products, milk fatty acids could serve as key indicators for managing dairy systems. Advances in lipidomics and metabolomics have underscored the potential of milk fatty acids as biomarkers, offering valuable insights into cow health, diet, and management practices. This, in turn, provides pathways to enhance dairy productivity and sustainability. However, the complexity of milk fat, which consists of over 400 fatty acids and interacts closely with other important milk components such as protein and lactose, makes this a challenging task. Expanding our understanding of the relationship between milk fatty acid profiles and dairy production is essential for utilizing them as biomarkers to improve the efficiency and environmental footprint of the dairy industry.

The primary aim of this research topic is to explore and validate milk fatty acids as reliable biomarkers for assessing and improving dairy herd productivity, profitability, and sustainability. By elucidating the relationship between milk fatty acid profiles and factors such as cow production, health, fertility, and environmental impacts, the study seeks to develop actionable strategies for dairy farmers to enhance their operations both economically and ecologically.

This research topic will involve a comprehensive evaluation of milk fatty acids from various dairy systems, analyzing their correlations with factors such as cow health, fertility, diet, and environmental conditions, as well as dairy product yield and quality. The study will employ interdisciplinary approaches, including lipidomics, metabolomics, genetics, animal science, nutrition, physiology, and sustainability assessments. Specifically, the research will cover:

Collection and analysis of milk samples from diverse dairy farms;
Evaluation of milk fatty acid profiles using advanced techniques;
Correlation of fatty acid profiles with cow health and productivity metrics;
Examination of genetic factors related to milk fatty acid profiles and their impact on ruminal health and cow metabolism;
Assessment of dietary influences on milk fatty acid composition;
Analysis of the environmental impact of different dairy systems based on milk fatty acids;
Development of guidelines for dairy farmers to improve productivity and sustainability through targeted interventions;
Investigation of the relationship between milk fatty acids and the yield and quality of dairy products.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Milk fatty acids, biomarkers, dairy productivity, sustainability, lipidomics, metabolomics, cow health, dietary influences, environmental impact, dairy systems

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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