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WEEKS AND HRISTOV
lyzer, MUN concentration may also be affected by the
concentration of bronopol used. Consistently using the
same laboratory and sampling procedure is advisable,
if MUN concentration (bulk tank or individual cows) is
used to monitor protein status of the herd. Thus, es-
tablishing a MUN benchmark relative to the laboratory
and analytical method used may be helpful for on-farm
management purposes.
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Figure1. AverageMUNconcentration( SE)inmilkpreservedwith
increasing concentrations of bronopol (Janssen Pharmacauticalaan,
Beerse, Belgium) analyzed at laboratory A—MS (MilkoScan 4000,
Foss, Hillerød, Denmark) and laboratory A—CL (CL 10, EuroChem,
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significant difference (P < 0.05) between control (0 mg of bronopol)
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concentrations of 0.01 to 0.02% (Barbano et al., 2010),
or 0.1 to 0.2 mg/mL. At these low concentrations, MUN
analysis is likely not going to be affected by bronopol
(Figure 1). It is noted that MUN analysis by CL 10
was more consistent and was less affected by bronopol
concentration. The CL 10 is widely accepted as the
most accurate measurement of MUN; however, due to
cost and additional labor needed to analyze samples,
it is not practical for commercial use (Arunvipas et
al., 2003). We are not aware of published data on
bronopol interference with MUN analysis. Other milk
components, such as fat, protein, and SCC, do interfere
with the mid-infrared analysis of MUN (Arunvipas et
al., 2003), but the calibration process and computer
algorithm correct for these interferences. Barbano et al.
(2010) studied various milk preservatives and reported
that bronopol-based preservatives interfered with mid-
infrared analyses, particularly for milk protein, com-
pared with K2Cr2O7-preserved milk.
Milk urea N is widely used on farm as an indicator
of dietary CP and RDP concentrations, intake, and N
utilization in dairy cows. Data from the current ex-
periments indicate that reported MUN concentrations
vary between laboratories depending on method and
equipment used. When analyzed by a mid-infrared ana-
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 100 No. 2, 2017