274
Fatty Acid Components of Indian Buffalo Ghees
Results
The following tables show the characteristics and structures (expressed as molar percentages of
acids) of the four samples of ghee analysed.
TABLE II (A)
Characteristios of the samples of ghee analysed
—
1. Origin
2. Type of feeding, etc.
3. General character-
istics
4. Noteworthy feature
6. R.M. . . .
6. P.V. . . .
7. I. V. . . .
8. S. V.
.
.
9. Free fatty acidity
as percentage of lactic
acid
1
Agricultural College,
Kirkee
Grass and concentrates,
a little groundnut
cake, pasture
Excellent flavour and
texture, bright yel-
low colour, fresh
High R.M.
37.4
1.9
27.4
227.3
0.07
2
Dinshaw Dairy,
Bangalore
Grass and concentrat-
es, varied oil-seeds
in small amounts
Excellent flavour and
texture, bright yel-
low colour, fresh
Normal R.M.
30.8
1.2
28.9
223.7
0.07
3
Satvirda Hills, Por
bandar State
Heavy
cottonseed
feeding, little or no
pasture
Good flavour, small
grains tending to be
hard
Low R.M.
20.7
0.6
37.0
212.6
0.09
4
Satvirda Hills, Por-
bandar State
Heavy cottonseed feed-
ing, little or no pas-
ture
Rancid, choking flavour.
Very small grains,
very hard to the feel,
quite white in colour
Low R.M. but rancid
22.7
0.8
34.9
216.7
1.7
TABLE II (B)
Fatty acid composition of the ghees analysed (as
molar percentages)
Acid
Butyric . .
Caproic . .
Caprylic . .
Capric .
Lauric . .
Myristic . .
Palmitic . .
Stearic . .
as Arachidic ..
Decenoic . .
Dodecenoic . .
Tetradecenoic . .
Palmitoleic . .
Oleic . .
Linoleic . .
as Gadoleic .
1
15.4
1.1
1.4
1.4
1.9
9.2
31.9
12.5
0.1
0.1.
0.1
0.6
3.0
16.8
1.2
3.3
2
13.5
0.4
0.5
0.9
2.4
12.3
31.5
10.1
0.1 0.03
0.1 0.05
1.0
3.0
23.0
0.4
0.8
3
11.5
. .
0.1
0.5
0.8
4.8
25.1
19.0
1.1
0.1
0.5
2.9
32.0
1.0
0.6
4
10.1
0.7
2.2
1.8
2.6
7.1
22.5
16.8
1.0
0.3
0.2
0.8
5.1
28.6
0.2
. .
DISCUSSION
It has previously been indicated by several workers
[Achaya, Katrak and Banerjee, 1943; Smith and
Dastur, 1938] that there exists in general a marked
inverse relation between the iodine value of a sample
of butterfat and its R.M. value. While samples
1 and 3 analysed are in excellent agreement with
the average figures for these constants, sample
2 has rather a low iodine value in comparison with
its R.M.
Also, sample 4 of butterfat was, as has been
stated, rancid at the time of analysis and hence
the high content of lower saturated and unsaturated
acids cannot be considered as normal, and represents
products of breakdown, probably oleic acid (which
is known to be liberated in hydrolytic rancidity),
which the high acidity of 1.7 per cent (as lactic
acid) indicated to have occurred to a marked extent.
These analyses reveal for the first time the presence
in buffalo milk-fat of unsaturated acids lower than
oleic. Their presence in cow milk-fat [Hilditch and
Longenecker, 1938] and goat milk-fat [Riemens-
chneider and Ellis, 1936] has been adequately proved,
and the bond of unsaturation established at the 9-10
position from the carboxyl group as in oleic acid.
While the quantity of material available in the
present series did not permit the establishment of
absolute proof of the occurrence of the structurally
identical acids, the trend of iodine values in the
lower ester fractions (coupled with the proved effi-
ciency of the. fractionation), which exhibited a
series of maxima and minima, and the probability
of similarity of features in all ruminant mammals,