Effect of Dietary and Injected Fat on the Fatty Acid Composition of Bovine Depot Fat and Milk Fat

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Abstract
The ingestion of soybean oil by cows resulted in a distinct increase in stearic acid of both milk fat and adipose tissue, but oleic acid increased only in the milk fat. Linoleic acid increased only slightly when soybeans were fed, whereas intravenous infusion of a cottonseed oil emulsion produced a dramatic increase in the linoleate content of milk fat. These findings support the view that dietary un-saturated fatty acids are hydrogenated by the rumen microflora, then deposited by the animal. If the rumen is bypassed, unsaturated fatty acids are deposited without hydrogenation.