Peanut cake can replace soybean meal in supplements for lactating cows without affecting production.

This study evaluated the total replacement of soybean meal with peanut cake in the concentrate supplement of lactating cows grazing. Eight crossbred 5/8 Holstein × 3/8 Zebu cows between the 45th and 60th day of lactation and 507 ± 35 kg BW were distributed in a 4 × 4 double Latin square design with four levels of peanut cake (0, 110, 220, and 330 g/kg of the dry matter-DM) as a replacement of soybean meal in the concentrate supplement. The intake of pasture, total (pasture + concentrate), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total digestible nutrients, and digestibility of the DM, CP, ether extract (EE), and NDF was not affected by the replacement of soybean meal with peanut cake. However, the EE (P = 0.83) intake and non-fiber carbohydrate digestibility (P = 0.09) exhibited an increasing linear trend by the peanut cake inclusion. The NDF exhibited a decreasing linear trend (P = 0.07) as the level of peanut cake increased. Production, corrected production, and protein, fat, lactose, total solid, and non-fat solid composition concentrations in the cows' milk were not affected (P > 0.05) by the peanut cake inclusion. The protein/fat ratio exhibited an increasing linear trend (P = 0.082) by the peanut cake inclusion. Peanut cake can completely replace soybean meal in the concentrate mixture because it does not alter dry matter intake, production, and composition of milk, and in addition it can reduce the cost of feeding.

Fatty acid profiles of milk and Minas frescal cheese from lactating grazed cows supplemented with peanut cake.

Milk and Minas frescal cheese were evaluated from crossbred Holstein × Gir cows that were fed diets enriched with 0, 33, 66 and 100% inclusion levels of palm kernel cake in a concentrated supplement in replace of soybean meal. Eight crossbred lactating cows were distributed (four animals × four treatments × four periods) in the experimental design of double 4 × 4 Latin squares. The capric (C : 10, P = 0.0270), undecylic (C : 11, P = 0.0134), and lauric (C : 12, P = 0.0342) saturated fatty acid concentrations and CLA (C18 : 2c9t11, P = 0.0164) of the milk fat decreased linearly with an increasing percentage of peanut cake in the diet. The increased peanut cake content (100%) in the diet was associated with a linear decrease in C : 10 (P = 0.0447), C : 12 (P = 0.0002), mirystic (C : 14, P 0.05) ratios were not influenced by the different peanut cake levels. The inclusion of up to 100% peanut cake as a substitution for soybean meal in the concentrate of grazing lactating cows resulted in changes in the nutritional quality of their milk products, as indicated by the increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids and the decrease of saturated fatty acids (lauric, myristic, and palmitic).