Effect of Changes in Farm Management on the Yield and Constituents, Microbiological Quality, Somatic Cell Count and Fatty Acid Profile of the Camel Milk

ABSTRACT Background The increasing interest in camel milk (CM) worldwide in recent years has increased the need for studies on the properties of CM, which is relatively less studied than other species. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the effects of changes in farm management on daily milk yield (DMY), milk composition and microbiological quality of CM. Methods Yearly changes in milk fat (MFC), protein (MPC), ash (MAC), totals solid (TSC) contents, total bacteria (TBC), coliform (CC), yeast and mould (YMC), somatic cell (SCC) counts and fatty acid profile of CM were determined by monthly taken milk samples and analyses. Results The means of DMY, MFC, MPC, MAC, TSC, TBC, CC, YMC and SCC of milk were 3.53 ± 0.290 kg, 3.80% ± 0.285%, 4.36% ± 0.212%, 0.81% ± 0.013%, 11.95% ± 0.380%, 7.24 × 105 cfu/mL, 1.31 × 105 cfu/mL, 912 cfu/mL and 2.45 × 105 cells/mL, respectively. The effect of the changes (Year 2 vs. Year 1) was statistically significant for MFC, MPC, TSC and Log10TBC (p < 0.05), and significant effects of lactation stage were determined for DMY, MFC, MAC, TSC, Log10TBC and Log10YMC (p < 0.05). The highest fatty acid (FA) amount in CM was found for palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1n9c), stearic (C18:0), myristic (C14:0) and palmitoleic (C16:1) acids with the concentrations of 31.59% ± 0.45%, 21.88% ± 0.81%, 13.43% ± 0.67%, 12.22% ± 0.26% and 12.18% ± 0.34% of fat, respectively. The correlation coefficients of MFC, MPC and TSC with SCFA and MCFA were moderate and negative but with long chain Fas (LCFA) were positive and moderate. Log10SCC was also negatively correlated with total polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA) (−0.414; p < 0.05), SCFA (−0.475; p < 0.01), MCFA (−0.573; p < 0.01) and positively correlated with LCFA (0.588; p < 0.01). Conclusion Although management causes significant changes in composition, TBC and FA profile, CM has high UFA, low SCFA, high LCFA and better atherogenic index (AI). The high microbiological level at the beginning and middle of lactation and the negative correlation of these traits with milk components reveal that various measures should be taken to improve hygienic conditions to process CM into quality products.