Short communication: Caseins and α-lactalbumin content of camel milk (Camelus dromedarius) determined by capillary electrophoresis

Huda Mohamed, Monika Johansson, Åse Lundh, Peter Nagy, Afaf Kamal-Eldin

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    37 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Camel milk has unique physical, nutritional, and technological properties when compared with other milks, especially bovine. Because proteins confer many of the properties of milk and its products, this study aimed to determine the proteins of camel milk, their correlations, and relative distribution. Raw milk samples were collected from 103 dromedary camels in the morning and evening. Capillary electrophoresis results showed wide variation in the concentrations (g/L) of proteins between samples as follows: α-lactalbumin, 0.3 to 2.9; αS1-casein, 2.4 to 10.3; αS2-casein, 0.3 to 3.9; β-casein, 5.5 to 29.0; κ-casein, 0.1 to 2.4; unknown casein protein 1, 0.0 to 3.4; and unknown casein protein 2, 0.0 to 4.6. The range in percent composition of the 4 caseins were as follows: αS1, 12.7 to 35.3; αS2, 1.8 to 20.8; β, 42.3 to 77.4; and κ, 0.6 to 17.4. The relative proportion of αS1-, αS2-, β-, and κ-caseins in camel milk (26:4:67:3, wt/wt) differed from that of bovine milk (38:10:36:12, wt/wt). This difference might explain the dissimilarity between the 2 milks with respect to technical and nutritional properties.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)11094-11099
    Number of pages6
    JournalJournal of Dairy Science
    Volume103
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

    Keywords

    • camel milk
    • capillary electrophoresis
    • casein
    • protein
    • α-lactalbumin

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Food Science
    • Animal Science and Zoology
    • Genetics

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