## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **BF\({}_{10}\)** & **Milk Yield** & **Fat** & **Protein** & **Lactose** & **F/P \({}^{2}\) Ratio** & **F/L \({}^{3}\) Ratio** & **log\({}_{10}\)SCC \({}^{1}\)** \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Milk Yield**} & r & — & & & & & & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & — & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Fat**} & r & \(-0.34\) & — & & & & & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & *** & — & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Protein**} & r & \(-0.42\) & \(0.33\) & — & & & & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & *** & *** & — & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Lactose**} & r & \(0.24\) & \(0.39\) & \(0.07\) & — & & & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & * & *** & Ns & — & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**F/P \({}^{2}\) Ratio**} & r & \(-0.16\) & \(0.88\) & \(-0.15\) & \(0.37\) & — & & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & * & *** & Ns & *** & — & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**F/L \({}^{3}\) Ratio**} & r & \(-0.42\) & \(0.97\) & \(0.34\) & \(0.17\) & \(0.85\) & — & \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & *** & *** & *** & Ns & *** & — & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**log\({}_{10}\)SCC \({}^{1}\)**} & r & \(-0.43\) & \(0.16\) & \(0.23\) & \(-0.32\) & \(0.07\) & \(0.25\) & — \\  & BF\({}_{10}\) & *** & * & ns & *** & * & * & — \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* SCC—somatic cell count, \({}^{2}\) F/P ratio—fat to protein ratio; \({}^{3}\) F/L ratio—fat to lactose ratio. The different asterisks indicate different levels of statistical significance: strong (*), decisive (***).  
\end{table} 
Table 6: Bayesian correlation coefficients for milk variables in Nera di Verzasca goat breed. Asterisks evidence the significance of BF\({}_{10}\) as reported in the text. given by the progressive sum of new and old secretory parenchyma at every parturition. However, achieving the age of 5 years old, the organism probably has a reduction in performance. In our study, goats, considering the DIM class, reached a production peak during 51-100 days in milk after a slight depression during the period of 31-50 days of lactation. The same pattern, but with a reduced yield, was followed by the Nera Verzasca breed. This trend through lactation was perfectly confident with what was already present in the scientific literature [25; 30], with a progressive increase in the milk yield starting from parturition till achieving a peak about 1 to 3 months post-partum. Then, a gradual decreasing pattern was shown until dry off. Fat percentage was 3.18% in Alpine and 3.27% in Verzasca goats, not showing a statistically significant difference among breeds. The trend through lactation, with maximum values at the beginning and at the end of it, was likely due to a dilution effect given that caused both the fat and protein percentage to decrease during the higher lactational productive period [25; 26; 31]. Even the protein percentage showed no differences between breeds and the same trend through lactation as the fat percentage. However, a significant age effect was also highlighted. The decreasing protein percentage with the increase in age was in agreement with the study of [PERSON] et al. [31]. The lactose percentage was the only parameter along with milk yield that showed a statistically significant difference between breeds. In particular, Verzasca goats showed a significantly higher value than the Alpine ones. Additionally, lactose showed a decreasing pattern starting from 30 to 50 days post-partum. That result has already been described in the literature [25; 31]. SCC was lower but not in a significant way in Verzasca goats (798 \(\times\) 10\({}^{3}\)/mL) than in the Alpine ones (1216 \(\times\) 10\({}^{3}\)/mL). In goats it is well documented that increasing the DIM was among the most important factors contributing to an increased cell count in the absence of intramammary infection [32; 33]. In the present experiment, SCC exhibited a constant increase during DIM; moreover, the SCC significantly rose with the subject's age.