Abstract: The aim of this study was to characterize the fat acid profiles of Hu sheep milk, East Friesian sheep milk and Hu × East Friesian crossbred F1 sheep milk at different lactation stages by gas chromatography. Goat milk and human milk were used as the controls to evaluate the fatty acid composition of sheep milk. The results showed that sheep milk fat was mainly composed of oleic acid (C18:1 cis), palmitic acid (C16:0) stearic acid (C18:0) and myristic acid (C14:0). The proportion of oleic acid (C18:1 cis) in sheep milk was significantly higher than that in goat milk (P < 0.05), and the proportion of palmitic acid (C16:0) was significantly higher than that in human milk (P < 0.05). The proportions of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in Hu × East Friesion crossbred F1 sheep milk were significantly higher than those in goat milk (P < 0.05), implying that the former is a good source of high-quality animal fat. The proportion of fatty acids in sheep milk varied during lactation. According to the cluster analysis, the fatty acid composition of sheep milk was similar to that of goat milk. East Friesian sheep milk was similar in fatty acid composition to Hu × East Friesian crossbred F1 sheep milk.

Key words: sheep milk; fatty acids; lactation stages; gas chromatography