Assessment of composition and physical properties of the Gambian N?Dama cow milk

Background: Very little is known about food products of tropical cattle. This study comprehensively determined composition and physical properties of the Gambian N'Dama cow milk together with the factors affecting them.Methods: Milk samples of 233 cows collected during rainy and early dry seasons were analyzed in triplicates with an ultrasonic milk analyzer for nine parameters. Effects of region of sampling, age, packed red blood cell volume, coat color, number of daily milking, feeding types, and season of milk sampling were investigated. The data were analyzed using general linear model with the univariate procedure. Pairwise comparisons based on estimated marginal means were conducted using the least significant difference option.Results: Concerning coefficient of variation, fat and electrical conductivity have the highest variabilities of 43.29% within milk components and 13.46% within physical properties, respectively. The estimated marginal means for total solids, fat, solids-not-fat, protein, lactose, salts, conductivity, freezing point, and density of N'Dama milk are 14.75 +/- 0.48%, 5.70 +/- 0.39%, 9.05 +/- 0.12%, 3.31 +/- 0.04%, 4.95 +/- 0.07%, 0.75 +/- 0.01%, 3.57 +/- 0.07 mS/cm,-0.599 +/- 0.010 degrees C, and 1030.73 +/- 0.35 kg/m3, respectively.Significance: This study contributes to development of database concerning nutritional importance of milk from tropically adapted cattle.