Relation between Color and Chemical Composition of Dromedary Camel Colostrum

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Colostrum is the first milk secreted by the mammary gland of female mammals immediately after birth during the first few days. The presence of colostrum in the milk is not a good sign, especially when the milk is intended for further processing. Because the transformation of camel milk into derivative products is becoming more and more important and is gaining the interest of industries, it is therefore important to identify unsuitable milk containing colostrum for the dairy industry. The objective of this work was to study the relation between the chemical composition of camel colostrum and its color using the CIELAB color space (CIEL* = from white to black, a* = from red to green, and b* = from yellow to blue). The color of colostrum reflects its quality. A paler color is associated with a lower colostrum value in terms of its general composition. Indeed, the chemical composition of camel colostrum in terms of dry matter, protein, and fat was highly correlated with the color parameters a* (redness) and b* (yellowness). Therefore, a color evaluation can be an effective method to detect colostrum in milk because generally there was a strong correlation between the composition of camel colostrum and its color. ABSTRACT: Camel milk industrialization faces technological problems related to the presence of colostrum in milk. The determination of color parameters may serve to differentiate between colostrum and milk. This work aimed to study the relationship between the chemical composition of camel colostrum and milk and their colors. Samples of colostrum were collected at 2, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, and 360 h postpartum (n = 16), and their physicochemical properties (pH, acidity, viscosity, color, dry matter, ash, protein, and fat) were analyzed. The results show that all the components decreased during the first 3 days except fat. The content of this later increased from zero in the three sampling on the first day (2, 12, and 24 h) to 1.92 ± 0.61% at 48 h postpartum. The amount of total dry matter and protein decreased from 20.95 ± 3.63% and 17.43 ± 4.28% to 13.05 ± 0.81% and 3.71 ± 0.46%, respectively, during the first 7 days postpartum. There was a weak correlation between the brightness (L*) of the camel milk and its contents of dry matter, protein, and fat; however, these parameters were strongly correlated with redness (a*) and yellowness (b*). Ash content was poorly correlated with the color parameters. Hence, the measurement of the color parameters of camel colostrum and milk can be a new tool to evaluate their quality.