This study examined the differences in the chemical composition of the lipid extracted from the fleeces of intact and gonadectomized Australian cashmere goats (Capra hircus laniger). Lipid was extracted with either petroleum ether or chloroform/methanol, and analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A large number of buck specific fatty acids (29), which could be potential pheromones, were identified or tentatively identified. The fatty acid composition of buck fleece lipid is more complex than previously reported.

This study examined the lipid content and short chain fatty acid composition of fleece samples collected from Cashmere goat (Capra hircus laniger) bucks at various times throughout the year. Fleece samples from does and gonadectomised goats were also analysed at one time during the breeding season for comparison. Lipid was extracted with chloroform/methanol azeotrope, saponified, and analysed for short chain fatty acids (C2-Clo) by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Bucks had increased amounts of lipid and ethyl-branched fatty acids in fleece samples shorn from March to September, compared with fleece samples shorn in November and January. The increases in the amounts of lipid and ethyl-branched fatty acids corresponded with the breeding season and the period when the buck odour was increased. This supports the assumption that ethyl-branched fatty acids may be a pheromone in goats.

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