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Milk beta-Hydroxybutylrate (BHB) Tests for Monitoring Subclinical Ketosis |
The TECO beta-Hydroxybutylrate (BHB) strip is quite sensitive (few false negatives) for subclinical ketosis when used with milk. The quantitative determination is from 0 micromole per liter to 500 micromole per liter or higher in just 3 minutes. The BHB strip is convenient to use at any time during milking.
Beta-hydroxybutylrate (BHB) tests for assessing ketone levels have been used primarily with urine on commercial dairies. If specific and sensitive tests were available for use with milk, it would increase the convenience of sampling and facilitate using a representative sample for the test.
In the milk, beta-hydroxybutyric acid penetrates the reaction pad of the dipstick is beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BHBDH) is converted to acetoacetic acid (AcA). While from the NAD+, NADH reduced p-iodonitrotetrazolium (INT) to pink formazan.
From the degree of color change can be estimated the beta-hydroxybutyric acid concentration in milk.
The TECO BHB strips have both a high sensitivity and high specificity at the 50 mol level. |
