Search

Total fat content was 32.8 +/- 14 g/L in camel milk (10-240 days post partum) or 30.1 +/- 19.5 g/L in colostrum (1-7 days post partum). Triacylglycerols accounted for 96% of the total lipids in milk. Triacyglycerols of camel milk contained saturated fatty acids (66.1%) and unsaturated fatty acids (30.5%). The predominant saturated fatty acids were 16:0 (34.9%) 14:0 (14.5%) and 18:0 (9.7%). The content of these fatty in acids in colostrum was lower (52.4%) than that of mature milk. The colsotrum contained a relatively high amount of 18:1 (25.4%), and 16:1 (13.9%), with the remainder being a mixture of dienoic and trienoic long-chain fatty acids. Triacylglycerols contained low amount of short-chain fatty acids (C4-C8). There is a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in camel colostrum and milk.

Summary The average lipid content of mature camel milk (3.48 g100g−1), was found to be less than cow's milk (3.69g 100g−1), but the total cholesterol content of camel milk was high (31.32 mg100g−1) when compared to the total cholesterol content of cow's milk (25.63mg100g−1). The average free cholesterol content of mature milk from 54 lactating camels was 21.34 mg100g−1, while the average free cholesterol of mature milk of 24 lactating cows was 17.25 mg100g−1. In the esterified fraction of camel's milk the percentage of saturated fatty acids was 52% with a content of palmitic acid of 18.4%. In cow's milk saturated fatty acids accounted for 58% of the total with a content of palmitic acid of 23.6%. The unsaturated fatty acids fraction in both groups was mainly contributed by oleic acid and palmitoleic acid. Pelargonic acid (C9:0) and decanoic acid (C10:1) were found in significant amounts in mature camel milk, but were only just detectable in cow's milk. The higher content of medium chain fatty acids in camel milk is useful from a nutritional point of view as they are more easily absorbed and metabolized than long chain fatty acids.

Cytochrome C was purified from camel skeletal muscles using ammonium sulphate fractionation and gel filtration on Sephadex G25 and Sephecryl S200 columns. The preparations were pure by SDS-PAGE criteria, with molecular weight of 12,300 Dalton. The electrophoretic mobility of camel cytochrome C was the same as that of the horse heart. The spectral characteristics of the isolated cytochrome C were also investigated.

The camel population of Saudi Arabia is ∼607000 out of a world population of 17 million. All are dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius) of four major ecotypes (Elamin & Wilcox, 1992), giving daily milk yields of 3·5–35·0 kg/animal (Knoess, 1977). Camel milk is low in lactose compared with cows' milk (Elamin & Wilcox, 1992). However, levels of potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, sodium and zinc are higher than in cows' milk (Sawaya et al. 1984; Abu-Lehia, 1987). Farah (1993) found low levels of potassium and phosphorus in Egyptian dromedaries. There is little difference between the milk of dromedaries and that of bactrian camels (Kheraskov, 1961).In the Gulf region and some southern Mediterranean countries, substantial amounts of camel milk are consumed by the local people. The investigation reported here was undertaken to shed more light on the nutritional contribution made by camel milk.