Milk from minor dairy species : Composition, processing and microbial aspects

Sammanfattning: Milk plays an important part of the diet all around the world and 99 % of the milk consumed by humans comes from bovine, buffalo, sheep, and goat. In addition, some other species are used for milk production, so called minor dairy species. This literature review focused on six minor dairy species, i.e. horse, donkey, dromedary camel, red deer, reindeer and moose. Research and other relevant information about the milk’s nutritional value, products made from the milk and their manufacture, potential for future product development, microbial content of the milk and food safety aspects were examined. A wide range of products, e.g., cheeses, fermented alcoholic drinks and ice cream made from milk of minor dairy species were found. The consumption is mainly connected to isolated communities in developing countries but there is also a small, commercial and industrial sector for milk products from minor dairy species. The nutritional content shows great varation between milk from minor dairy species. Protein and fatty acid composition are important factors in the dairy food production and impact which products and processing methodologies are viable. Microbial content of these milks and products is also an important aspect from both a production and food safety standpoint.