Mare s milk The mare s milk is produced for the mare (the female of horse) Mares, like all the mammal females, have mammary glands that secrete what it have to the unique food for their children during the early stages of its lives This is a whitish watery substance that contains water, proteins, fats and sugars in addition to vitamins, minerals and other nitrogenous substances One of its functions is to bring all the necessary elements for the proper and fast development for the breeding Mare s milk, in chemical composition and particularly in the protein content, it is one of the most similar milks of human milk The production of mare s milk is low in comparison with other species like cows, sheep, goats, etc This is maybe the reason of quitting its production and the studies Historic context Formerly this milk was consumed, even there were doctors that recommended it for some pathologies, but maybe because of the cost of its production it didn t lasts until the actual age It seems that mare s milk was used for the Botai Some ceramic containers dated of 3500 ac were found and there were detected some fats that can only found on mare s milk, so, it is assumed that the Botai consumed mare s milk and maybe they obtain derivatives like the actual inhabitants of central Asia Where, for example, the national drink of Mongolia is a derivate of mare s milk (Koumiss o Airag) Nowadays it s being re-used to help the people in the treatment of some disease or even to strengthen the body
Nutritional aspects Mare s milk Human milk Cow s milk Fats (g/kg) 5-20 35-40 35-39 Total protein (g/kg) 15-28 9-17 31-38 Lactose (g/kg) 58-70 63-70 44-49 Ash (g/kg) 3-5 2-3 7-8 Energy (kcal/kg) 390-550 650-700 650-712 Compared with the human milk and with the cow s milk, the mare s milk is the less fatty of the three It has a protein content that is between the human milk and the cow s milk, which is the one that have more proteins It have a lactose content similar to the human milk From the three types of milk compared, the mare s milk is the less energetic one, but it must be take into account that a high part of the energy from this milk comes from sugars and not from fats Because of that, the energy that comes from the mare s milk is, in a big part, rapid energy that we waste during the same day and it s not energy of slowly metabolization like the one that comes from saturated fat of cow s milk Specific composition Mare s milk TOTAL (g/kg) Human milk TOTAL (g/kg) FATS 12,10 36,40 Saturated fatty acids 6,75 19,95 Monounsaturated fatty acids 3,05 13,50 Polyunsaturated fatty acids 2,30 2,90 PROTEINS 21,40 14,20 Serum proteins 8,30 9,23 β-lactoglobulin 2,55 0 α-lactoalbumin 2,37 2,92 Serum albumin 0,37 0,38 Immunoglobulin G 0,38 0,046
Immunoglobulin A 0,47 1,30 Immunoglobulin M 0,03 0,033 Lactoferrin 0,58 1,89 Lysozyme 0,87 0,27 NPN 0,381 0,38 Caseins 13,56 4,97 α s1 -casein 2,40 0 α s2 -casein 0,20 0 β-casein 10,66 4,5 κ-casein 0,24 - ASH 4,20 2,20 Calcium (Ca) 0,80 0,23 Phosphor (P) 0,562 0,140 Magnesium (Mg) 0,118 0,0317 Potassium (K) 0,384 0,404 Sodium (Na) 0,139 0,096 Copper (Cu) 0,00023 0,00016 Zinc (Zn) 0,0018 0,0008 LACTOSE 63,70 67,00 VITAMINS A 0,00034 0,0004 B 1 0,00039 0,00000016 B 2 0,00011 0,00000035 B 3 0,00072 0,000002 B 5 0,00277 0,00000225 C 0,0238 0,00000004 D 0,0000032 0,0015 E 0,001342 0,048 K 0,000043 0,0000012 FREE AMINO ACIDS Aspartic acid 0,006 0,0056 Threonine* 0,0357 0,0099
Serine 0,0897 0,0068 Glutamic acid 0,0992 0,2215 Proline 0,0161 0,0067 Glycine 0,0101 0,0083 Alanine 0,0066 0,0193 Cystine 0,0006 0,0035 Valine* 0,0167 0,0081 Methionine* 0,003 0,0018 Isoleucine* 0,0016 0,0029 Leucine* 0,0035 0,00695 Tyrosine* 0,0028 - Phenylalanine* 0,0057 - Lysine* 0,0088 0,0149 Histidine* 0,0066 0,00186 Arginine 0,0019 0,0047 Comparison of the composition of mare s milk with the human mik * Essential amino acids Sources in relation with mare s milk: (Malacarne et al 2002), (Uniacke-Lowe et al 2010), (Dewey et al 1984), (Csapó-Kiss et al 1995), (Schryven et al2008), (Potocnik et al 2011), (Marconi et al 1998), (Csapó et al 1995) Sources in relation with human milk: (Malacarne et al 2002), (Agostini et al 2000), (Garza et al 1983), (Forsum et al 1980), (Atkinson et al 1980), (Gerbe-Medhin et al 1976), (Lönnerdal et al 1976), (Svanberg et al 1979) Actual situation in biomedical research The association equaid Research is dedicated to investigate, promote and spread the mare s milk It is seen that is very useful for some pathologies like anemia, skin problems, digestive diseases (like irritable colon, Crohn disease), depressions, fatigues and chronic fatigues, high levels of cholesterol, cancer (for helping rise up differences in cancer treatment with chemotherapy), etc
References wwwequaidorg Malacarne, M; Martuzzi, F; Summer, A and Mariani, P; Protein and fat composition of mare s milk: some nutritional remarks with reference to human and cow s milk International Dairy Journal 12 (2002): 869-877 Uniacke-Lowe, T; Huppertz, T and Fox, PF; Equine milk proteins: Chemistry, structure and nutritional significance, Review International Dairy Journal 20 (2010): 609-629 Kathryn GDewey, Dorothy A Finely and Bo Lönnerdal (1984) Breast Milk Volume and Composition During Late Lactaton (7-20 month) Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutition, 3, 713-720 Csapó-kiss, Zs; Stefler, J; Martin, TG; Makray, S & Csapó, J; Composition of mare s colostrum and milk Protein content, aminoacid composition and contents of macro and micro-elements International Dairy Journal 5 (1995): 403-415 H F Schryver, O T Oftedal et al (2008) Lactation in Horse: The Mineral Composition of Mare Milk The journal of nutrition Klemen Potocnik, Vesna Gantner et al (2011) Mare s milk: Compositionn and protein fraction in comparison with different milk species Mare s milk, Mljekarstvo 61(2), 107-113 Emanuele Marconi and Gianfranco Panfili (1998) Chemical Composition and Nutritional Properties of Commercial Products of Mare Milk Powder Journal of food composition and analysis, 11, 178-187 Csapó, J; Stefler, J; Martin, TG; Makray, S & Csapó-Kiss, Zs; Composition of mare s colostrum and milk Fat content, fatty acid composition and vitamin content International Dairy Journal 5 (1995): 393-402 Carlo Agostini, Brunella Carratù et al (2000) Free Amino Acid Content in Standard Infant Formulas: Comparison with Human Milk Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 19(4), 434-438 Cuberto Garza, Carmen A Johnson et al (1983) Changes in the nutrient composition of the human milk during gradual weaning The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37, 61-65 Elisabet Forsum and Bo Lönnerdal (1980) Effect of protein intake on protein and nitrogen composition of breast milk The Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 33, 1809-1813 S A Alkinson, G H Anderson and M H Bryan (1980) Human milk: Comparison of the nitrogen composition in milk from mothers of premature and full-term infants The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 33, 811-815 Mehari Gerbe-Medhin, Anders Vahlquist et al (1976) Breast milk composition in Ethiopian and Swedish mothers I Vitamin A and β-carotene The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 29, 441-451 Bo Lönnerdal, Elisabeth Forsum et al (1976) Breast milk composition in Ethiopian and Swedish mothers II Lactose, nitrogen and protein contents The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 29, 1134-1141 Ulf Svanberg, Mehari Gerbe-Medhir et al (1979) Breast milk composition in Ethiopian and Swedish mothers III Amino acids and other nitrogenous substances The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 30, 499-507