Humans may benefit from goat, camel, donkey milk, research needed: Experts

Karnal, June 1

The ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, celebrated World Milk Day on Saturday and a seminar on “Bovine and non-bovine milk and human health” was organised to highlight the importance of milk and milk products for human being. The theme of this year is “The vital role dairy plays in delivering quality nutrition to nourish the world,”

Experts and students discussed the vital role of milk and dairy products in promoting health, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Dr Dheer Singh, Director, NDRI, said milk and milk products were good for health and being consumed by the whole world as a complete and nutritious food. He said India’s annual milk production is 230.58 million metric tonnes (MMT) with a per capita availability of 444 g/day, surpassing the global average of 322 g/day.

“The dairy and animal husbandry sector contributes 4.5 per cent to India’s GDP, with the dairy sector alone contributing 24 per cent to the agricultural sector, valued at around Rs 10 lakh crore, the highest in the world,” he added. Dr Singh said dairying remained a cornerstone of India’s economy, directly involving about 450 million people, mostly small and marginal farmers.

He said there was a need to explore the health benefits of non-bovine milk of animals such as goat, sheep, camel, donkey, yaks etc. which possess numerous therapeutic properties which were considered good for human health as it contained a large amount of functionally active lipids, lactose, immunoglobulin, various peptides and metabolites.

Dr Manish Kumar Chatli, Director of the Central Institute for Research on Goats, highlighted the importance of goat milk as an “Ausadhi”. He talked about the immunomodulatory activity of goat milk and its potential to reduce parasitemia index, specifically during malaria and dengue. He also said the proteins in goat milk possessed inhibitory effects against hypertension, cardiovascular disease and synthesise essential amino acids in the human body.

Dr Artabandhu Sahoo, Director of ICAR-NRC on camel, said camel milk’s properties might support gut health and improve symptoms associated with autism, suggesting new dietary interventions and therapeutic approaches.

Dr Ashish Kumar Singh, Joint Director (Academics) and Dr Rajan Sharma, Joint Director (Research) said while the research had shown positive health implications of consuming milk from both bovine and non-bovine sources, further in-depth research was required to understand the cellular mechanisms behind these benefits.