Effect of Heat-treatment on Accuracy of Infrared Spectroscopy and Digital and Optical Brix Refractometers for Measuring Immunoglobulin G Concentration in Bovine Colostrum

Heat-treatment of colostrum is a method developed to reduce calf exposure to pathogens. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and Brix refractometers can be used for measuring colostral IgG concentration and assessing colostrum quality.

To determine the impact of heat-treatment on accuracy of IR spectroscopy and Brix refractometers for measuring colostral IgG concentration and assessing colostrum quality before and after heat-treatment.

A total of 60 Holstein dairy cows on 8 commercial dairy farms.

A cross-sectional study was designed to determine the effect of heat-treatment at 60°C and 63°C each for 30 and 60 minutes duration on colostral IgG concentration measured by the reference radial immunodiffusion (RID) assay, IR spectroscopy, and digital and optical refractometers.

Colostrum IgG concentration significantly decreased after heat-treatment at 63°C for 30 or 60 minutes as measured by RID, but the IgG values remained unchanged when measured by IR spectroscopy and refractometers. The lowest correlation coefficient found between IR spectroscopy (r = 0.70) and RID results was in colostrum heat-treated at 63°C for 60 minutes. For digital (r = 0.48) and optical (r = 0.50) refractometers, the lowest correlation coefficient was at 63°C for 30 minutes when compared to RID. The accuracy of the IR spectroscopy, digital and optical Brix refractometers was decreased from 91.7 to 80%, 81.7 to 45%, and 80 to 45%, respectively, when colostrum heat-treated at 63°C for 60 minutes.

Radial immunodiffusion, IR spectroscopy, and Brix refractometers exhibit utility for measuring IgG concentration when colostrum heat-treated at 60°C but does not detect decrease IgG concentrations when heat-treated at 63°C.