Handbook of Milk of Non-Bovine Mammals (eBook)

No one can deny the fact that the cow is the primary dairy animalspecies to provide humans with nutritious dairy foods through itsabundance of lacteal secretion. The goat or other minor dairyspecies will never be able to compete with the cow in terms of thevolume of milk production. Yet, the contribution of milks fromother secondary domesticated dairy species to the survival andwell-being of mankind around the world is immense and invaluable.Testament to the importance of non-bovine milk is that more peopledrink the milk of goats than that of any other single species inthe world.

In developing and under-developed counties, the secondary dairyspecies play a crucial role in supplying the food and nutritionalneeds of the people in those regions. Due to the unavailability ofcow milk and the low consumption of meat, the milks of minorspecies such as goat, buffalo, sheep, and camel are critical dailyfood sources of protein, phosphate and calcium. Furthermore,because of important and inherent hypoallergenic properties, milksof certain species such as goat milk have been recommended assubstitutes in diets for those with cow milk allergies.

Editors Park and Haenlein have assembled dairy and nutritionexperts from around the world to contribute to the Handbook ofMilk of Non-Bovine Mammals. Secondary dairy species addressedare the goat, sheep, buffalo, mare, camel, yak, deer (reindeer),sow, llama, alpaca, moose, musk ox, caribou, ass, elk, pinniped,polar bear and human. The book comprehensively covers the mostimportant aspects of milk production including: trends and methodsof raw milk production in different regions; compositional,nutritional, therapeutic, physico-chemical, and microbiologicalcharacteristics of the milks; processing technology; and types,distribution and consumption of the manufactured products fromminor species milks. Of special note is coverage comparing specifichuman health attributes of milk from the various species, includingnutritional, allergenic, immunological, and cultural factors.Because secondary dairy species have such a significant impact onhuman well-being and survival in many parts of the world, theHandbook of Milk of Non-Bovine Mammals is an essentialreference book of leading-edge information for dairy scientists,nutritionists, food chemists, allergy specialists, healthprofessionals, and allied professionals.