Principle component analysis and hierarchical clustering of body morphometric measurements along with the milk composition analysis of AzaKheli buffaloes: a neglected livestock genetic resource of Pakistan.

The current study aimed to morphologically characterize the AzaKheli buffalo breed and develop phenotypic standards for this neglected animal genetic resource of Pakistan which has a significant impact on the rural economy of far-flung northern areas of the country. The body morphometric measurements of 219 adult (33 males and 186 females) animals were taken, in centimeters, for 26 different biometric parameters. Data were subjected to descriptive and Pearson correlation analysis in SPSS. However, hierarchical clustering and Principal component analysis was used to describe the body conformation and identify the combination of independent traits that distinguished the peripheral and central/core area (Khwazakhela) AzaKheli buffalo population. The highest values of correlation coefficient observed were 0.893 for the FtL/FtC, 0.883 for the TesW/SC, 0.881 for the RtL/RtC, 0.856 for the FtL/RtL, 0.789 for the NL/NW and RW/TW, 0.624 for the NW/RW, 0.612 for the CG/HH, and 0.599 for HH/BL. The hierarchical clustering suggested that, in both, peripheral and core area buffaloes two major clusters were present. However, 9 PCA components were observed in female and 7 in male AzaKheli buffaloes native to Khwazakhela which explained 75.75% and 86.33% of variance respectively, while in case of peripheral population, it was 78.24% and 90.95% for the females and males respectively. Moreover, their milk composition analysis revealed that they have higher percentage of SNF contents compared with major buffalo breeds, except Mediterranean buffaloes. Finally, it is anticipated that these data would help in the identification of purebred animals of this buffalo breed for future breeding schemes.