Variation factors of some minerals in camel milk

In four regions of Kazakhstan (Atyrau, Aralsk, Shymkent and Almaty), a survey on came] farms was achieved in order to study the variability of the physico-chemical composition of camel milk both in dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) camel as well as their hybrids. As the whole, 163 milk samples were analyzed for calcium, phosphorus and iron determination. In order to maximize the variance, the samples were done in four different seasons which expressed the feeding change and the physiological stage changes as the calving season was concentrated in few months. The mean values were respectively 1.232 +/- 0.292 g/l, 1.003 +/- 0.217 g/l and 2.02 +/- 1.24 mg/l for calcium, phosphorus and iron. No species, season or region effect was observed on iron content in the milk. Calcium and phosphorus change significantly according to season and species, but only phosphorus was linked to region effect. Especially phosphorus content is high in Aralsk region (1.156 +/- 0.279 g/l). Globally, it is noticeable to observe the high level of phosphorus in the camel milk of Kazakhstan compared to the literature's results.