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

17 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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