Goat’s milk is used for drinking and making cheese and yoghurt.
Goat milk differs from cow or human milk in higher digestibility, distinct alkalinity, higher buffering capacity and certain therapeutic values in human medicine and nutrition.
The chemical composition of goat milk varies with breed and other factors, but goat milk contains approximately 11-0-13.0 % total solids, 3.0-5.5 % fat, 2.9-4.6 % proteins, 3.8-5.1 % lactose and 0.69-0.81 % ash (mineral matter).
It is naturally homogenized, with smaller fat molecules evenly suspend throughout the milk.
Fat in goat milk is high of short chain and medium chain triglycerides therefore goat milk more rapidly digested than cow milk because lipase attacks ester linkages of short or medium chain fatty acids more easily than those of longer chains.
Goat milk contains slightly less total casein but higher non-protein nitrogen than the cow counterpart.
Milk from goats is also high in vitamin A and niacin. Goats milk is one of the best fluorine sources, nearly ten times higher than cow’s milk. Dietary fluorine helps build immunity, protect teeth, and strengthen bones; however, fluorine is lost in pasteurization.
Goat milk taste varies a great deal by bred, by feed stuffs, by stage of lactation, by the age of the milk and especially by the way it’s handled.
This milk may be the milk of choice for children who are allergic to cow’s milk. The difference in the proteins mean that goat’s milk doesn’t cause an allergic response.
Goat milk nutritional value
