Abstract
Background: Whole milk is a good source of all the nutrients, and it also contains a sufficient number of vitamins to permit regular the growth of the neonate. Dairy cow milk can create allergy in infants less than 12 months old because of the high caseins and β-lactoglobulin content. In these circumstances, donkey milk can represent a good replacement for dairy cows’ milk in children affected by Cow Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA) because of its close chemical composition with human milk, mainly due to its low protein and low mineral content. Milk vitamin content is highly variable among mammalian species and it is strictly correlated with the vitamin status and the diet administered to the mother. Fat-soluble vitamins content in donkey milk is, on average, lower compared to ruminants’ milk, while vitamin C content determined in donkey milk is higher compared to dairy cows’ milk, showing a great similarity with human milk. In donkey milk, the content of vitamins of the B-complex such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, and folic acid is higher compared to human milk. The use of donkey milk as a new functional food must be further evaluated in interdisciplinary clinical trials in which pediatricians, dietitians, and food scientists must be involved to deepen the knowledge about the positive health impact of donkey milk in different sensitive people, especially children and the elderly.
Highlights
The production of animal source foods through the breeding of domesticated species represents a milestone in the development of human civilizations
The vitamin C level determined in donkey milk (57 mg/L) is very close (Table 4) to the content reported in human milk (60 mg/L)
Vitamin B6 content (5.38 μM) in donkey milk (Table 4) is very high compared to human milk (0.48 μM) but close to the value determined in cow milk [29]
Summary
The production of animal source foods through the breeding of domesticated species represents a milestone in the development of human civilizations. A significant part of the population in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia drink mare milk [4] Milk produced by these two monogastric species shows similar protein, fat, lactose, ash, and water content (Table 1), with a chemical composition very close to that in human milk, considering the high lactose, low protein, and ash content [5]. The low caseins content in equine milks, around 40%–45% of total protein, is very close to the values determined in human milk (Table 2) In these two mammalian species, more than 50% percent of milk protein is represented by whey protein (Table 2), and for this reason, cheesemaking using equid milk is challenging [7,8,9]. The aim of the present review was to compare the vitamin content in human and donkey milk, to evaluate the nutritional properties of donkey milk in order to better understand the suitability of this food in infant’s nutrition and in other consumers category such as elderly people
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