## 3 Results and Discussion
### Milk Fatty Acid Composition
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Fatty Acids** & **CONC** & **PALM** & **SOYA** & **BEET** & **P-Value** \\ \hline
**Butyric acid C4:0** & 4.06 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 3.87 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 4.15 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 3.88 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.01 \\
**Caproic acid C6:0** & 2.63 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 2.49 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 2.71 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 2.63 \(\pm\) 0.02 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Octanoic acid C8:0** & 1.52 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.45 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.56 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.56 \(\pm\) 0.02 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Decanoic acid C10:0** & 3.4 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 3.26 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 3.45 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 3.61 \(\pm\) 0.06 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Undecanoic acid C11:0** & 0.09 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.1 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.08 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.09 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.04 \\
**Lauric Acid C12:0** & 4.31 \(\pm\) 0.18 & 7.33 \(\pm\) 0.49 & 4.32 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 4.46 \(\pm\) 0.12 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Tridecanoic acid C13:0** & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.1 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.19 \\
**Myristic acid C14:0** & 12.75 \(\pm\) 0.11 & 14.22 \(\pm\) 0.12 & 13.04 \(\pm\) 0.12 & 13.09 \(\pm\) 0.05 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Myristoleic acid C14:1** (\(\sharp\)) & 1.24 \(\pm\) 0.11 & 1.39 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.21 \(\pm\) 0.08 & 1.4 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 0.07 \\
**Pentadecanoic acid C15:0** & 1.41 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 1.28 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.32 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.39 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.16 \\
**Palmitic acid C16:0** & 36.48 \(\pm\) 1.37 & 34.93 \(\pm\) 1.21 & 36.9 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 38.94 \(\pm\) 0.33 & 0.02 \\
**Palmitic acid C16:1** (\(\sharp\)) & 1.74 \(\pm\) 0.15 & 1.79 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 1.79 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 2.03 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 0.10 \\
**Heptadecanoic acid C17:0** & 0.62 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.6 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.58 \(\pm\) 0.02 & \textless{}0.001 \\ cis-10-Heptadecanoic acid C17:1** (\(\copy\)) & 0.01 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0 \(\pm\) 0.0 & 0.01 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.01 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.03 \\
**Stearic acid C18:0** & 9.22 \(\pm\) 0.74 & 8.49 \(\pm\) 0.34 & 8.91 \(\pm\) 0.34 & 7.37 \(\pm\) 0.35 & 0.02 \\
**Elaidic acid C18:1 n9t** & 0.28 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 0.2 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 0.31 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.22 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.04 \\
**Oleic acid C18:1 n9c** & 16.82 \(\pm\) 0.66 & 15.91 \(\pm\) 0.57 & 16.1 \(\pm\) 0.19 & 15.25 \(\pm\) 0.3 & 0.05 \\ trans-9,12-octadecanoate C18:2 n6t & 0.12 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.17 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.12 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**Linoleic acid C18:2 n6c** & 1.00 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.82 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.22 \(\pm\) 0.16 & 1.14 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.01 \\
**Gamma Linolenic Acid C18:3 n6** & 0.01 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.02 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.01 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.02 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.09 \\
**Eicosanoic acid C20:0** & 0.13 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.12 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.02 \\ \(\alpha\)-Linolenic acid C18:3 n3 & 0.66 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.44 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.64 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.62 \(\pm\) 0.04 & \textless{}0.001 \\
**CLA C18:2 c911** & 0.96 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 0.79 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 0.92 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.01 \\
**CLA C18:2 c101 The fatty acid composition of milk is typically derived from two main sources, through _de novo_ synthesis and via uptake of preformed fatty acids [19]. _De novo_ milk fatty acids C4-C14 are synthesised by the cow's mammary gland. The substrates for _de novo_ synthesis are acetate and \(\beta\)-hydroxybutyrate, which are products of rumen fiber digestion [19]. Therefore, the content of _de novo_ fatty acids in milk has in recent years received a renewed interest as a result of its use as a potential indicator of rumen functioning in the herd [20]. Diet was shown to have a significant (\(P\leq 0.001\)) effect on the _de novo_ fatty acid content of milk. The PALM diet resulted in milk with the highest level of _de novo_, FA significantly higher than that of BEET, SOYA, and CONC (\(P\leq 0.001\)). However, the increased concentration of C12:0 and C14:0 in PALM diet likely resulted in increased levels of absorption of these fatty acids being reflected in the milks.