An herbal compound makes cow's milk fat healthier
Shen Y, Dai D, Han H, Hao Y, Yang Z
Medicinal Plants
The jug of milk in your fridge carries a microbiome of its own, and this study shows that a flower-derived compound can tilt that hidden bacterial community toward producing healthier fats, a reminder that plant chemistry shapes food quality long after the plant itself is gone.
Scientists fed dairy cows a compound called baicalin, which comes from the root of Chinese skullcap, a plant long used in traditional medicine. The cows that got it produced milk with more unsaturated fats, the kind nutritionists consider healthier than saturated fats. The researchers found this happened because the compound changed which bacteria thrived in the milk and altered the cows' metabolism, including how they process bile acids, both of which nudged fat production toward the healthier type.
Key Findings
Dietary baicalin supplementation increased unsaturated fatty acids in milk, including oleic acid (C18:1n9c) and linoleic acid (C18:2n6c)
Baicalin enriched the milk bacterial genus Myroides, which was positively associated with higher unsaturated fatty acid levels
Baicalin altered milk metabolites such as alpha-ketoglutarate and affected primary bile acid biosynthesis, both linked to enhanced unsaturated fat synthesis and metabolism
chevron_right Technical Summary
A compound found in a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, when fed to dairy cows, increased the proportion of heart-healthy unsaturated fats in their milk by reshaping bacteria living in the milk itself and shifting the cows' internal chemistry.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Dietary baicalin supplementation increases the milk unsaturated fatty acid proportion through modulating milk metabolism and the microbiome in dairy cows.
The composition and characteristics of milk fatty acids, which play a pivotal role in nutrition, are profoundly influenced by the dietary components consumed by cows. Like other flavonoids, baicali...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Scutellaria baicalensis, with the common name Baikal skullcap or Chinese skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae.