Physiochemical Properties and Nutritional Composition of Camel Milk in Garissa County, Kenya

Mohamed, Yoonis Dayr and Waihenya, Rebecca and Ogila, Kenneth and Lihana, Raphael W (2025) Physiochemical Properties and Nutritional Composition of Camel Milk in Garissa County, Kenya. World's Veterinary Journal. 921 - 928. ISSN 2322-4568

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Abstract

Camel milk is an important source of food, income, and livelihood for communities in arid and semi-arid regions. It contains essential macronutrients, minerals, vitamins, and bioactive compounds that contribute to human health. Despite Kenya's status as a prominent producer of camel milk, especially in Garissa County, comprehensive data regarding its physicochemical and nutritional composition remain scarce. The present study aimed to determine the physicochemical attributes and nutritional profile of camel milk sourced from Garissa County. Fifteen raw milk samples were collected in May 2024 during the long rainy season from randomly selected, clinically healthy lactating Somali dromedary camels reared under semi-intensive systems on five dairy farms in Garissa County, Kenya, under hygienic conditions (three samples per farm). Physicochemical parameters measured included pH, color, titratable acidity, viscosity, total solids, and moisture. Nutritional components analyzed were fat, protein, lactose, minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids using AOAC methods and gas chromatography�mass spectrometry. The camel milk samples exhibited a mean pH of 6.63 ± 0.10, 0.14 ± 0.03 titratable acidity, 1.86 ± 0.08 mPa·s viscosity, 12.68 ± 0.66 total solids, and 87.20 ± 2.86 moisture. Proximate composition indicated 4.2 ± 0.2 fat, 2.3 ± 0.1 protein, and 5.1 ± 0.2 lactose. Calcium (5293.16 ± 54.49mg/l) was the most abundant mineral. Among vitamins, vitamin C was the most abundant water-soluble vitamin, while vitamin K was the most dominant fat-soluble vitamin. Fatty acid analysis indicated that (55.4) of the fatty acids were saturated and (44.6) were unsaturated. Palmitic acid and oleic acid were the most abundant. The results indicated relatively uniform physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of camel milk produced under semi-intensive systems from selected farms in Garissa County, Kenya. The results of this study provided descriptive insight for future studies with larger sample sizes within this county, as well as comparative study across counties and different seasonal conditions. © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article�s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article�s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Camel milk; Fatty acid; Nutritional composition; Physicochemical characteristic
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Divisions:	World's Veterinary Journal (WVJ)
Page Range:	921 - 928
Journal or Publication Title:	World's Veterinary Journal
Journal Index:	Scopus
Volume:	15
Number:	4
Publisher:	Scienceline Publication
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.54203/scil.2025.wvj93
ISSN:	2322-4568
Depositing User:	Dr. Alireza Sadeghi
URI:	https://eprints.science-line.com/id/eprint/1670

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