Donkey milk concentration of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and magnesium

The aim of this trial was to study the content of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and magnesium in donkey milk. Individual milk samples obtained from 16 lactating jennies during a 3 month experiment were analyzed for Ca, P, K, Na and Mg by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Average milk concentrations of Ca, P, K, Na and Mg were 807.09 mg L-1, 638.42 mg L-1, 746.61 mg L-1, 140.94 mg L-1, 81.69 mg L-1, respectively. The Ca/P and Na/K ratios averaged 1.26 and 0.19, respectively. The concentration of the studied minerals was affected by the stage of lactation showing a decreasing trend for Ca, P and Mg. The correlation coefficients among all studied minerals were positive and significant except between Ca and Na. Results indicated that generally the concentration of macro elements in donkey milk is lower compared with milk from conventional dairy species and higher than human milk. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.