COMPOSITION AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BUFFALO MILK WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON LIPIDS, PROTEINS, MINERALS, ENZYMES AND VITAMINS

The businesses community of different sectors affected by current energy crisis in Pakistan tends towards dairy business. They are highly interested by the information on milk composition particularly of buffalo milk due to its major contribution in national’s milk production i.e. 63% according to the FAO’s published data of 2010. It is necessary to know for maximum value addition in dairy food chain as the nutrients not only determine the dietary value of milk for human consumption but also help to define market strategies for various classes of consumers like growing children, nursing mothers, young persons involved in hard jobs or elderly people. Buffaloes are most important sources of milk for human consumption in several parts of the world including Pakistan. It is characterized by higher solids contents for being richer source of lipids, protein, lactose and minerals. Buffalo milk has long been valued by its important chemical composition determining nutritive properties and suitability in the manufacture of traditional as well as industrial dairy products. Recently buffalo milk’s constituents, their nutritional importance and bioactive properties have received much attention. In this paper, the composition and physico-chemical properties of major constituents of buffalo milk with particular emphasis on lipids, protein, minerals, enzymes and vitamins have been presented. The concentration and partition of major elements between different phases of buffalo milk are also given. The enzymic profiles as well as the nutrient molecules have been presented for the said milk which determines its suitability for various processes and end products. The available technologies need some modifications even from milking machines to industrial processing. It is a golden opportunity for the investors to come into buffalo milk business to get advantage from the government initiatives in the current period. In this way, we will be able to improve the genetic potential of buffaloes in getting more milk of higher quality and experimenting diversity of products particularly cheeses and other fermented dairy products for the local market and export by better exploiting the uniqueness of buffalo milk.