Skip to main content
Log in

Comparison of milk samples collected from some buffalo breeds and crossbreeds in China

  • Note
  • Published:
Dairy Science & Technology

Abstract

Buffaloes are the second largest milk producers in the world and China has rich buffalo resources. However, the nutrient potential of buffalo milk (BM) has not been fully determined and the information about BM from different breeds and crossbreeds is still quite limited. Therefore, the gross composition, fatty acids, and amino acids of BM were determined in milk samples from Murrah and Nili-Ravi river breeds and first (F1) and second (F2) generation of Murrah × Guangxi swamp buffalo crossbreeds. Buffalo breeds consist of two pure river breeds (Murrah and Nili-Ravi) and two crossbreeds (Murrah river buffalo × Guangxi swamp buffalo, first and second generation) (F1 and F2). Results revealed the BM contained 19.28% total solids, 5.30% crude protein, 7.97% fat on average, high levels of total amino acids, and essential amino acids. From the major minerals investigated, BM was also rich in total calcium and phosphorus contents (192.2 and 124.3 mg 100 mL−1, respectively). Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the proportions of gross chemical composition, fatty acids, and amino acids were observed between river buffalo breeds and river × swamp crossbreeds. Milk from crossbreed buffaloes was found to contain more monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and less saturated fatty acids (SFAs) than milk from Murrah and Nili-Ravi buffaloes. In addition, BM samples collected from crossbreeds were good supply of total amino acids and essential amino acids. The results indicate that BM is of significance in contributing to human nutrition and our data also suggest that BM from Chinese crossbreeds has better nutritional value than that of river buffalo breeds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • AOAC (2000) AOAC Official Method: Fat Content of Raw and Pasteurized Whole Milk Gerber Method by Weight Official (Method I). Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, USA

  • Chinese standard method GB/T 5009.124-2003 (2003). Method for determination of amino acids in foods. Beijing, China: China National Standard

  • El-Salam MHA, El-Shibiny S (2011) A comprehensive review on the composition and properties of buffalo milk. Dairy Sci Technol 91(6):663–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goudjil H, Fontecha J, Luna P, de la Fuente MA, Alonso L, Juárez M (2004) Quantitative characterization of unsaturated and trans fatty acids in ewe’s milk fat. Lait 84(5):473–482

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo H, Pang K, Zhang X, Zhao L, Chen S, Dong M, Ren F (2007) Composition, physiochemical properties, nitrogen fraction distribution, and amino acid profile of donkey milk. J Dairy Sci 90(4):1635–1643

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2004) Available from http://faostat.fao.org/faostat/collections?subset=agriculture

  • FAO (2000) Water Buffalo: an Asset Undervalued, pp. 1–6. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

  • Han B-Z, Meng Y, Li M, Yang Y-X, Ren F-Z, Zeng Q-K, Robert Nout M (2007) A survey on the microbiological and chemical composition of buffalo milk in China. Food Control 18(6):742–746

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He S, Ma Y, Wang J, Li Q, Yang X, Tang S, Li H (2011) Milk fat chemical composition of yak breeds in China. J Food Compos Anal 24(2):223–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ISO-IDF (2001) Milk and milk products-Extraction methods for lipids and liposoluble compounds. International Standard ISO 14156-IDF, 172: 2001. International Dairy Federation, Brussels, Belgium

  • ISO-IDF (2002) Milk fat Preparation of fatty acid methyl esters. International Standard ISO 15884-IDF, 182: 2002. International Dairy Federation, Brussels, Belgium

  • ISO-IDF (2002) Determination of the milk fatty acid composition by gas-liquid chromatography. International Standard ISO 15885-IDF 184: 2002. International Dairy Federation, Brussels, Belgium

  • Kris-Etherton PM, Pearson TA, Wan Y, Hargrove RL, Moriarty K, Fishell V, Etherton TD (1999) High-monounsaturated fatty acid diets lower both plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr 70(6):1009–1015

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medhammar E, Wijesinha-Bettoni R, Stadlmayr B, Nilsson E, Charrondiere UR, Burlingame B (2012) Composition of milk from minor dairy animals and buffalo breeds: a biodiversity perspective. J Sci Food Agr 92(3):445–474. doi:10.1002/Jsfa.4690

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mensink RP, Zock PL, Kester AD, Katan MB (2003) Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr 77(5):1146–1155

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramamurthy M, Narayanan K (1971) Fatty acid compositions of buffalo and cow milk fats by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). Milchwissenschaft 26(11):693–697

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sheng Q, Li J, Alam MS, Fang X, Guo M (2008) Gross composition and nutrient profiles of Chinese yak (Maiwa) milk. Int J Food Sci Technol 43(3):568–572

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Q, Liu L, Zhang S-W, Liang X, Lv J-P (2012) Determination of calcium in milk by microwave digestion and flame atomic spectrometry. J Food Sci 33(14):162–165 (in Chinese)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi S, Ito-Oka E, Masuyama K, Kasahara I, Goto K (1985) Application of organic solvent-soluble membrane filters in the preconcentration and determination of trace elements: spectrophotometric determination of phosphorus as phosphomolybdenum blue. Talanta 32(5):391–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Talpur FN, Memon NN, Bhanger M (2007) Comparison of fatty acid and cholesterol content of Pakistani water buffalo breeds. Pak J Anal Environ Chem 8(1–2):15–20

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thac N (1979) Results of studies on F1 crossbreed of Murrah and Vietnamese local buffaloes. proceedings (Vietnamese) Results of research on Science and Technology (1969–1979) Agricultural Publish House Hanoi:154–163

  • Zeng Q-K, Yang B-Z, Liang K, Zhu G-Y, Nong H-R (2007) Study on physical and chemical properties of buffalo milk from different breeds and generations. China Dairy Ind 35(5):13–15 (in Chinese)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Yao J, Zhao D, Liu H, Li J, Guo M (2005) Changes in chemical composition of Alxa Bactrian camel milk during lactation. J Dairy Sci 88(10):3402–3410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Science & Technology Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (no.2012BAD29B03, no.2013BAD18B10) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.31371808, no.31301521). The authors thank Guangxi Buffalo Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science for facilitating us with BM sample collections. We also thank Dr. Hankie Uluko and Dr. Lauren for proof-reading and improving the manuscript’s English.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jia-ping Lv.

About this article

Cite this article

Sun, Q., Lv, Jp., Liu, L. et al. Comparison of milk samples collected from some buffalo breeds and crossbreeds in China. Dairy Sci. & Technol. 94, 387–395 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13594-013-0159-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13594-013-0159-9

Keywords

Navigation