Modern health concept of non-bovine milk: A review

Abstract

Milk is considered as the most complete single food available and is a fundamental part of the human diet in which major contribution comes from bovine than that of Non-Bovine Animals (NBA). Among NBAs, goat, camel, and donkey are important components of livestock industry which play vital role in the socio-economic structure in rural areas. The gross composition of the Non-Bovine Milk (NBM) is almost like that of bovine milk, except donkey milk due to its lower fat and protein and higher lactose content. NBM has several health benefits as it is rich source of essential fatty acids, some essential amino acids, micro-nutrients, and several bioactive compounds. Goat and camel milk have smaller fat globules hence known as naturally homogenized milk and have better digestibility and protein utilization. Camel and donkey milk are rich source of vitamin C as compared to bovine milk. Furthermore, the protein composition of NBM is one of the attractive points as compared to bovine milk due to its lower allergenic effects in consumers. NBM is also a very rich source of healthy unsaturated fatty acids. Multiple medicinal and therapeutic anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-cancerous properties help to promote them as “functional foods” to attract consumers. Goat, camel and donkey milk are well known for their bifidogenic, anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects, respectively. NBM has potential for human well-being though, less awareness, information about the microbiota and its significance for milk quality and safety are challenging fields for further exploration.

Biochemical and functional characterization of milk from alpina and toggenburg goat breeds

“…Physico-chemical composition of Alpine (AGM) and Toggenburg (TGM) goat milk are shown in Figure 2. AGM contained approximately twice the fat concentration of TGM (4.760.25% vs. 2.960.057%, respectively) and similar to goat milk from stall cattle (SCGM) reported by Kumar et al, (2016) while containing approximately 20% more fat than cow (CM) and human (HM) milk (Wadhwani et al, 2023). Nayik et al, (2021) indicates that a diet rich in natural pastures generates fat and micronutrients rich milk, further suggesting that goats fed and grazed in the mountains with access to green pastures can produce milk in smaller quantities but with high protein and fat content.…”

“…GM is a high source of medium-chain fatty acids, highlighted for their functionality because they are present in small fat globules, making them more digestible than the fat globules present in MC (Wadhwani et al, 2023). Table 1 shows the results obtained for fatty acid content in AGM and TGM.…”

“…The increase in world milk consumption has forced consumers and researchers to look for different milk sources to help satisfy the demand. In this respect, goat milk in addition to having similar nutritional characteristics as cow's milk, can provide more essential health benefits production and has shown several bioclimatic and economic advantages (Wadhwani et al, 2023). Currently in Mexico, goat milk (GM) is the second most popular milk with a share of only 1.28% of national production (SIAP 2020).…”

A comprehensive review on infant formula: nutritional and functional constituents, recent trends in processing and its impact on infants’ gut microbiota

“…The composition of different milk sources has already been presented in Table 1 . Besides, the concentration of HMOSs is 5–20 g/L, i.e., higher than the milk of other domesticated animals, e.g., bovine 30–60 mg/L, sheep 20–40 mg/L, goat 60–350 mg/L and donkey 250–300 mg/L, respectively ( 67 , 68 ). The bovine colostrum (day 0) contains more 6′-sialyllactose, disialyllacto-N-tetraose, and LS-tetrasaccharide.…”