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Camel milk has supported
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. Herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments, especially in the Middle East and North African regions of the world. The camel dairy farming industry has grown in Australia and the United States, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cow
dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
using a species well-adapted to arid regions. Camel milk has different nutritional characteristics from cow milk, but the proportions of nutrients can be highly variable based on a number of factors, including type and age of camel, climate, what it eats, and milking method. It can be used to make products such as
yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...
and
ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
, but is not so easily turned into
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
or cheese.


History

Desert nomad tribes use camel milk, which can be readily made into
yoghurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...
, as a staple food, and can live for up to a month on nothing but camel milk.


Production

In 2017, world production of whole, fresh camel milk was 2.85 million
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s, led by
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
and
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
with 64% of the global total (table).
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
and
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
were other significant producers.


Australia

After being introduced to Australia in the 1840s to assist with exploration and trade in the harsh interior before being overtaken by modern communications and transport methods, the
feral camel Australian feral camels are feral populations of dromedaries (''Camelus dromedarius'') in Australia. Imported from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the central an ...
population has grown to in excess of 1.2m, the world's largest. Australia's first camel dairies opened in 2014, and the number has been growing ever since, with demand growing both locally and internationally. In 2016 the
Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
reported in 2016 that "the five years to 2021 are expected to see a major increase in Australian camel milk production". Production has grown from of camel milk in 2016 to per annum in 2019. One farm has grown from three wild camels in 2014 to over 300 in 2019, and exports mostly to
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, with shipments of both fresh and powdered product set to start to
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. One litre of
pasteurised Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...
camel milk retailed for about (; £8) in Australia in 2019, which was about 12 times more expensive than cow's milk. , Australia has seven camel dairies, which produce meat
skincare Skin care is a range of practices that support skin integrity, enhance its appearance, and relieve skin conditions. They can include nutrition, avoidance of excessive sun exposure, and appropriate use of emollients. Practices that enhance appea ...
products in addition to milk and cheese. There was one certified organic commercial camel milk dairy in 2019.


United States

the United States had an imported population of 5,000 camels. The cost of producing camel's milk is considerably higher than that of producing cow's milk. In the United States, female camels are very rare; they mature slowly and can be bred safely only after age four. Their thirteen-month gestation period must conclude in a live birth followed by suckling, else the female camel will stop producing milk. Unlike a dairy cow which is parted from her calf when it is born and then gives milk for six to nine months, a camel can share her milk with the farmer and her calf for 12–18 months.


Milk yields and nutritional value

Both milk yields and the nutritional composition of camel milk are affected by many factors, including "
forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...
quantity and quality, watering frequency, climate, breeding age, parity, milking frequency, calf nursing, milking method (hand or machine milking), health, and reproductive status".


Yields

Pakistani and Afghani camels are supposed to produce the highest yields of milk, up to 30 litres per day. The
Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dro ...
produces 5 litres per day and the
dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus ''Camelus'', with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three species of ...
produces an average of 20 litres per day. Intensive breeding of cows has created animals that can produce 40 litres per day in ideal conditions. Camels, with their ability to go 21 days without drinking water, and produce milk even when feeding on low-quality fodder, are a sustainable option for food security in difficult environments.


Nutritional value

According to the United States
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
(FDA), camel milk contains 3% fat. However, it is reported in the literature that the proportion of fat in the milk varies from country to country and region to region, and is also dependent upon diet, level of hydration of the animal, and type of camel. In a detailed report published by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
in 1982, a table shows fat content varying from as low as 1.1% (in arid areas of Israel) to 5.5% (Ethiopia). A 2015 systematic review reports the fat content of dromedary milk as between 1.2% and 6.4%. Camel farmers may provide a degree of control over factors affecting nutritional content of the milk produced by their camels. Producers of camel milk in Australia state that their products have lower fat and lower lactose than cow's milk.


Camel milk products

Camel milk can readily be made into
yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...
, but can only be made into
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
if it is soured first, churned, and a
clarifying agent Clarifying agents are used to remove suspended solids from liquids by inducing flocculation, causing the solids to form larger aggregates that can be easily removed after they either float to the surface or sink to the bottom of the containment vess ...
is then added. Cheese from camel milk is more difficult to make than cheese from the milk of other dairy animals. In camel-herding communities, camel milk cheeses use spontaneous fermentation or lactic fermentation to achieve a sour
curd Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as l ...
; in camel farming in Sudan, the Rashaida tribe use this method to store surplus milk in the rainy season, pulverising the dried curds and adding water for consumption in the dry season, and in Mongolia, camel milk is consumed as a product at various stages of the curd-making process. However, the milk does not coagulate easily and bovine rennet fails to coagulate the milk effectively. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires (ENSAIA), who was able to produce curdling by the addition of
calcium phosphate The term calcium phosphate refers to a family of materials and minerals containing calcium ions (Ca2+) together with inorganic phosphate anions. Some so-called calcium phosphates contain oxide and hydroxide as well. Calcium phosphates are whi ...
and vegetable rennet in the 1990s. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The European-style cheese, marketed under the name Caravane, was created through collaboration between Mauritanian camel milk dairy Tiviski, the FAO, and Ramet. It is claimed to be the only camel milk cheese in the world. Camel milk can also be made into
ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
. In
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, a drink called
chal Chal, or shubat ( kk, шұбат, ), is a Turkic (especially Turkmen, Uzbek and Kazakh) beverage of fermented camel milk, sparkling white with a sour flavor, popular in Central Asia — particularly in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. ...
or shubat is made from fermented camel milk.


References


Further reading


The Technology of Making Cheese from Camel Milk
(Camelus dromedarius) Animal Production and Health Paper Issued by FAO, United Nations. (2001)

Report Issued by FAO, United Nations. (1982) * * {{Authority control Milk by animal Arab cuisine African cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine
Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...
Traditional medicine