Fatty acid and protein profiles, and mineral content of milk from the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus) in Mongolia

摘要

This paper was to analyze the fatty acids and proteins profiles, and mineral contents of milk samples from the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus), the ancestor of all domestic camels, and compare these items with domestic Bactrian camel milk and cow milk. The results showed that the contents of major fatty acids in the wild Bactrian camel milk (WBCM) were similar to those of domestic camel and cow milk. The predominant saturated fatty acids in WBCM were C_(16:0)(19.86%), C_(18:0) (17.30%), and C_(14:0) (7.01%). Polyunsaturated fatty acids (mainly C_(18:1), 17.56%) and a small amount (0.44%) of conjugated linoleic acid were also present in WBCM. Similar to domestic camel milk and cow milk, the major protein components in WBCM were caseins, which accounted for about 60% relative percentage of total proteins. It seemed there was no beta-lactoglobulin in both wild and domestic camel milk, whereas the relative percentage of alpha-lactalbumin in the camel milk was significantly higher (P< 0.05) compared to cow milk. Finally, the levels of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and sulphur in WBCM were 1824.72, 540.61, 1431.93, 111.37, 6.46, 1309.55 and 396.24 mg I~(-1), respectively, higher than those in cow milk.