Impact of Parity Order on Nutritional Values of Camel Milk in Modern System

The study was carried out at Alzakiat Camel Farm, in Ezba area close to Bahri City, Khartoum from June to December 2013. Two clinically healthy groups, each of eight lactating she-camels at 2nd week postpartum, 6-17 years, average mean body weight 477.13± 32.291 kg were chosen from the mixed herd of camels. All selected camels belonged to Arabi Kenana breed from Alzakiat Farm. Group of early lactation (GY) included she-camels in first and second parity, whereas group of mid lactation (GD) included she-camels in third, fourth and fifth parity. All experimental animals were herded in closed pen and provided ration feed, which consisted of concentrates in addition to roughages feed. Water source was available daily ad libitum.

Milk samples were collected in sterile glass bottles (40 ml) by manual milking four times a day (7:00 am, 12:00 noon, 5:30 pm and 11:00 pm). The collection of samples was started in second week postpartum and continued biweekly interval up to 4th month postpartum. These samples were delivered to dairy laboratories in University of Khartoum within 24 h for laboratory analysis. During experiments, one case each of mastitis and internal parasites were observed. Therefore, the dams in this case were discarded from experiment.

Major fat, protein, lactose, solid non-fat (SNF) and density percentages were determined biweekly for 16 weeks postpartum by automatic milk analyzer device (lactoscan Model-90, Europe).

All data were subjected to General Linear Model using Statistix8 version-2 software program; variations of means regarding treatments and weeks were calculated. Least significant differences (LSD) test used for means separations (Free Software Foundation, Boston, MA 02110, USA).

Table I shows the effect of parity order on milk constituents and nutritional values, and fat content (%) of milk produced by young camel group versus old camel group camel under intensive farming system. There is no difference in fat content among two groups, but the fat content continue to increase regularly from week 2 to 8 postpartum. It ranged between 3.46± 0.85 and 6.34± 0.85% in GY compared to that of GD which ranged between 3.46± 0.70 and 3.92± 0.70%. The results also indicated that there was no significant (P˃0.05) effect of parity and age on lactose content. The lactose level in milk fluctuated during the first 8 weeks, but thereafter it increased stably.

Different letters in same column and row indicates significant difference (P˂0.05). GY, young group (early lactation); GD, old group (late lactation).

The protein content had lower values in the beginning of lactation in both groups but later increased significantly (P˂0.05) throughout the lactation stage with higher value at week 14 (3.77± 0.11%). The content of SNF likewise increased significantly (P˂0.05) with advancement in lactation stage during four months postpartum. There was no difference in milk density during the first eight weeks after calving but it decreased during week 10 and 12 and later increased till the end of experiments.

The results of this study revealed that milk of young camel is slightly richer in fat content compared to that of old camel. These findings are similar to those who stated that parity seemed to have no effect on milk fat content (Bakheit et al., 2008; Aljumaah et al., 2012; Mustafa et al; 2014). In contrast, the effect of parity on fat content of camel milk was significant as reported by Zeleke (2007) and milk yield was also reported to be affected significantly by parity (Raziq et al., 2010).

High value of milk lactose content during four months postpartum was recorded. These findings are close to previous studies, who mentioned that high lactose content were recorded during first lactation. This is justified by general herders who think that camel milk is sweeter in first lactation (Zeleke, 2007; Aljumaah et al., 2012; Wafa and El-Zubeir, 2014; Elagba et al., 2016). The results of current study showed no significant difference of milk lactose, fat and density content between two groups during experiment period. These findings are in agreement with those who show insignificant differences of fat, lactose, SNF and density contents of milk camel after calving (Bakheit et al., 2008; Wafa and El-Zubeir, 2014). The variation in protein content recorded in current study is close to studies reported in Sudan and Ethiopia (Zeleke, 2007; Mustafa et al., 2014). There are many limitations of working with camels since the owners look for trade benefits rather than scientific researches. Moreover, camels are expensive in modern farm.

Wide variations of camel milk constituents and nutritional values have been detected in current study. These variations might be attributed to difference in parities, lactation stage postpartum, calving number, ecological and physiological variables and reproductive age of she-camel. The study findings elucidated that the camel milk production in modern system can be provided with better nutritional values with adequate amount of nutrients in desert and semi desert regions. Therefore, management practices, parity order and camel breed should be considered. In addition to, physiological adaptation to certain types of commercial feed, feed additives and milking times. However, significant intervention to improve and maintain the milk nutritional value is recommended.

The help extended by the management of Alzakiat Camel Farm, Khartoum is gratefully acknowledged.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.