The addition of vegetable oils to the diets of dairy goats is an alternative to supplemental feeding during the dry period and improves the lipid profile of milk and by-products. Cheeses were produced using milk from cross bred goats (Saanen × Alpina) fed diets enriched with 4% vegetable oil (faveleira, sesame or castor), the fatty acid profile of cheeses was studied. Supplementation with vegetable oils did not increase the total fat percentage of the cheese (p ≥ 0.05) but did increase the percentage of CLA isomers, long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA); in addition, the index of desirable fatty acids (DFA - expressed as the sum of unsaturated fatty acids plus stearic acid) was increased for cheese made from milk from goats fed sesame or faveleira oil. Cheeses may have had increased percentages of cis-9,trans-11-CLA due to the supplementation of animal diets with vegetable oils rich in C18:2, such as faveleira and sesame oils. The fatty acid profile of goat cheese did not change significantly in response to the use of castor oil. Thus, the addition of sesame and faveleira oils to goat diets positively altered the fatty acid profile, which improved the nutritional characteristics of the fat present in goat cheese.

This study aimed to test the hypothesis that peanut cake can substitute for soybean meal in the feed of ruminants on the basis of the intake, performance, digestion, and serum urea and glucose concentration in crossbred Boer × indigenous goat kids. Forty intact vaccinated and dewormed crossbred Boer × indigenous goat kids (average age = 5 mo, average BW = 15.6 ± 2.7 kg) were used. The goats were fed Tifton-85 (Cynodon dactylon) hay and concentrate mixes of corn bran, soybean meal, premix mineral, and peanut cake substituted for soybean meal at rates of 0.0%, 33.33%, 66.67%, and 100%. The animals were confined for 62 d, and the digestibility trial was performed from d 27 to 31 of confinement. Samples of orts and feces were quantified and collected from each animal during this period. On the d 32 of confinement, a blood sample was taken from animals to measure urea N and glucose. Data were analyzed with a regression model. Substitution of soybean meal with peanut cake in the diet of the animals resulted in a reduction in intake of DM (P = 0.02), CP (P = 0.03), NDF (P = 0.03), nonfiber carbohydrate (NFC; P = 0.01), and TDN (P = 0.02) and an increase in intake of ether extract (P < 0.001). The total and daily average weight gains decreased (P = 0.02) with substitution, whereas G:F was not influenced (P = 0.11). With the exception of ether extract digestibility, which increased (P < 0.001) with substitution, digestibility of DM (P = 0.13), OM (P = 0.18), CP (P = 0.54), NDF (P = 0.20), and NFC (P = 0.73) was not influenced by diets. The concentration of serum urea N was influenced quadratically by the postprandial time for treatments with 33.33%, 66.67%, and 100.00% substitution. Peanut cake is not a complete, equal substitute for soybean meal in goat feed. However, peanut cake may represent an eventual replacer able to reduce goat producers' dependence on traditional ingredients in the feed of growing goat kids.