| In the current dairy industry, an intensive demand for estrus detection and early diagnosis of pregnancy has been increasing. Progesterone is a steroid hormone that is secreted from corpus luteum into bovine blood and milk, and has a role of maintenance of estrus cycle and pregnancy. Therefore, progesterone concentration in bovine milk is used as an important indicator of estrus detection and early diagnosis of pregnancy. Current method for milk progesterone determination requires a hormone extraction procedure that is time consuming, various types of instruments, reagents management, and various assay methods that are destructive in nature. In contrast, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a time saving and non-destructive analytical method that can be... |
