Milk from Halari Donkey Breed: Nutritional Analysis, Vitamins, Minerals, and Amino Acids Profiling

Abstract

This current research set out to characterize Halari donkey milk by investigating its nutritional constituents, including its proximate analysis, water activity, titratable acidity, energy, and microbiological analysis. A comprehensive profiling of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids was also carried out. It was found that the composition of Halari donkey milk was consistent with previously published donkey milk literature and was comparable to that of human milk. Halari donkey milk has low 0.86 ± 0.04% fat content, 2.03 ± 0.03% protein content, 0.51 ± 0.05% ash content, and high 5.75 ± 0.15% lactose content making it sweet and palatable. The energy content of Halari donkey milk was 40.39 ± 0.31 kcal/100 g, and the water activity ranged from 0.973 to 0.975. Titratable acidity was 0.03 ± 0.01%. Halari donkey milk can be considered acceptable and microbiologically safe, having low total plate count and yeast and mould counts. Mineral testing revealed that Halari donkey milk included significant amounts of magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc. The concentration of different vitamins and amino acids such as isoleucine and valine also contribute to the nutritional value of Halari donkey milk.

Potential of Endangered Local Donkey Breeds in Meat and Milk Production

“…Based on the composition analysis of milk from the Istrian jennies and the Littoral Dinaric jennies, the values of lactose, protein, fat, and ash content fell within the range of the previously determined values [17,18,[20][21][22][23][25][26][27][28][29][38][39][40][41]. These studies reported lactose content ranging from 5.75 to 7.25%, protein content ranging from 1.42 to 2.04, fat content ranging from 0.11 to 1.16%, and ash content ranging from 0.36 to 0.51% (Figure 2).…”

“… Average values of lactose, protein, fat, and ash content in milk from different donkey breeds (according to different authors) [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. …”

“…Total fat, protein, and mineral content were influenced by the stage of lactation [ 24 ]. In the milk of different donkey breeds, the lactose content ranged from 5.75% to 7.32% [ 25 , 26 ], the protein content from 1.42 to 2.04% [ 17 , 20 ], the milk fat content from 0.11% to 1.16% [ 20 , 22 ], and ash content from 0.35% to 0.67% [ 26 , 27 ]. The somatic cell count (SCC) in the milk of Ragusana, Amiata, Littoral Dinaric, and Cypriot jennies was below 4.4 log10 mL −1 [ 17 , 18 , 23 , 24 , 28 ].…”

“…The somatic cell count (SCC) in the milk of Ragusana, Amiata, Littoral Dinaric, and Cypriot jennies was below 4.4 log10 mL −1 [ 17 , 18 , 23 , 24 , 28 ]. Although the microbiological quality of donkey milk is generally good [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 29 ], potential pathogenic microbe species were identified in donkey milk, emphasizing the need for quality control measures to be taken for health and safety prior to human consumption [ 29 ].…”

Milk somatic cell DNA isolation and characterization of κ-casein gene in Halari donkey milk

“…This is the first study to isolate DNA from the milk somatic cells isolated from the Halari breed of Indian donkeys. The Halari donkey breed of India is recently registered (Accession No: INDIA_DONKEY_0400_HALARI_05002) and is primarily found in the state of Gujarat, India [ 29 ]. Our results imply (1) the first report of DNA isolation from the milk of Halari donkey as a non-invasive alternate to other invasive or minimally-invasive methods, (2) the first characterization of k-casein gene from isolated DNA from the Halari donkey milk somatic cells.…”