Milk of Camel and Yak: Time to Drink Education Worldwide

Milk of Camel and Yak: Time to Drink Education Worldwide

Akbar Nikkhah

Chief Highly Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Zanjan, Iran;

Source: Science of Camel and Yak Milks: Human Nutrition and Health Perspectives; Food and Nutrition Sciences; DOI: 10.4236/fns.2011.26092

Milk is considered as the foremost functional liquid in the nature. Its increasing health-improving reputation in science and public minds is due to 1) milk resulting from the renovation and reconstitution of most-abundant, least-digestible natural organic matters, namely cellulose, and 2) milk generously hosting priceless bioactive substances that function beyond their calculated nutritional values. For optimal health in different age groups and for more stable food markets and economics, cow milk must find suitable and widely edible replacements and complements.

While camel milk (CM) has less short-chain FA than milk from cow, sheep and buffalo, it has about 3 times greater vitamin-C than cow milk. One kg CM can meet 100% of daily human requirements for calcium and phosphorus, 58% for potassium, 40% for iron, copper, zinc and magnesium, and 24% for sodium. CM has long and traditionally been used to treat liver problems, lower bilirubin output, reduce vitamin deficiency and nutrient imbalance, and boost immunity. CM can largely reduce allergies caused by cow milk and milk products, especially in neonates and the elderly. It has low fat content but with increased proportions of healthy polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). CM lacks β-lactoglobulin (an allergenic protein) while being compatible with breast milk in immonoglobulins.

Yak is a bovine subfamily mammal with the ability to survive in hypo-oxygen and extremely cold environments at as low as −40°C and atmospheric pressure of 550 hPa. Yaks are found in large numbers throughout highlands of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Bhutan, the Tibetan Plateau and Tian Shan Mountains of Northern China, Western and Northern Mongolia, and some areas of Russia and other independent states. Yak milk (YM) has greater solids, protein and fat, and is richer in PUFA and casein than cow milk. Yak cheese has almost 4 times more CLA (a functional fatty acid with anti-cancer and immune-strengthening implications) than Canadian cheddar. YM casein can be hydrolyzed to produce antihypertensive peptides with multiple bioactive functions and capacities for producing value-added synergy-enriched foods and proteins.

Future interdisciplinary research is required to further characterize biophysical and biochemical properties of camel and yak milks as functional substitutes and complements for cow and buffalo milks. Inspirational and informative education and practical science dissemination must become a global commitment for countless milk health implications, especially from novel sources, to be optimally realized by the worldwide public.