Nutraceutical and Functional Properties of Camelids’ Milk

Abstract

In most areas of the world, camelids are considered exotic animals, living only in zoological gardens. Additionally, considering the original lands where they were previously bred with specific economic and social aims, today it is possible to detect a reduction in their total numbers. Typically bred as working animals for goods transportation in desert regions, and as a source of meat and milk, in recent years, camels have been dismissed due to the construction of new roads for motor vehicles, the migration of nomadic populations from deserts to urban zones, and the choice of some autochthonous bovine breeds as sources of meat and milk. The decline in camelids heads seems irreversible. Camels should be considered a valid source of food in marginal areas; the peculiar quality parameters of their milk, showing the proper characteristics for the use of this milk in human nutrition, can justify the choice for breeding them, rather than considering camels only as objects of amusement.

Camel milk as an integrated food and its physical and chemical properties with therapeutic characteristics

“…Camel milk is opaque white, which may be because it contains less -carotene (Patel et al, 2016; Vincenzetti et al, 2012) [54,65] . ( [11,62,49] .…”

“…( [11,62,49] . Additionally, camel milk has a sweet, astringent flavor that can occasionally be salty ( [11,63,65] . Acidity levels of camel's milk range from 6.2 to 6.5 (Farah, 2011, Swelum, et al, 2021) [25,63] , and its density values range from 1.026 to 1.035 (Farah, 2011) [25] , with an average value of about 1.029.…”

Alternatives to Cow’s Milk-Based Infant Formulas in the Prevention and Management of Cow’s Milk Allergy

“…Milk from Camelus dromedaries (camel) is an important source of nutrition in arid and semi-arid regions because camels can produce much more milk while on poor feed and lack of water than any other species [ 289 , 290 ]. In these regions, camel milk is used as raw or pasteurised regular milk or is used in dairy product manufacture for yoghurt, soft cheese, or ice creams.…”

“…In these regions, camel milk is used as raw or pasteurised regular milk or is used in dairy product manufacture for yoghurt, soft cheese, or ice creams. Together with cow, goat, and sheep, camel belongs to the Artiodactyla order but to a different family, namely the Camelidae family ( Figure 4 ) [ 290 ]. In general, camel milk contains comparable amount of total proteins to cow’s milk [ 291 ].…”

“…Camel milk has gained an increasing interest in the last decade as a potential suitability source for infant formula manufacture, including manufacture of infant formulas for CMA management [ 290 , 295 , 296 ]. This is mainly due to its different profile of proteins and relatively low amino acid sequence identities with cow’s milk proteins especially in comparison to goat and sheep milk proteins [ 263 ].…”