Sheep Milk: An Upcoming Functional Food

摘要

Milk is considered as a valuable source of nutrients since the Neolithic period when hominids made the gathering societies. India ranks first in milk production producing 165.4 million tonnes with a per capita availability of 355 grams per day which surpasses the world average (Rajorhia 2018). Eighty-five percent of the world milk production is derived from cattle, 11% from buffalo, 2.3% from goat, 1.4% from sheep and 0.2% from camel. However, due to the demographic growth of increased population in the past few years, milk from non-bovine sources such as small ruminant animals vi%, sheep and goat is gaining much attention. The first milch animals domesticated were the goat and sheep in the Middle East, because of their size, ruggedness, adaptation, behaviour and social nature (Yildiz 2010; Barlowska et al, 2011). In addition, sheep milk producing farms represent a significant part of the rural economies in many countries, especially those bordering the Mediterranean Sea and in the Middle East. But its consumption in liquid form is very rare (Tamime et al, 2011). Thus, sheep dairy products have gained market size due to the product's quality, high yield, and nutritional value.