Beyond nutrition: Exploring immune proteins, bioactive peptides, and allergens in cow and Arabian camel milk

Bovine milk has dominated the dairy segment, yet alternative milk sources are gaining attention due to perceived superior health benefits, with immune proteins and bioactive peptides (BPs) contributing to these benefits. Fractionation affects protein recovery and composition. Here, the cream fraction resulted in the highest yield of proteins, identifying 1143 camel and 851 cow proteins. The cream fraction contained a significantly higher concentration of immune system-related proteins. Straightforward filtration and protein precipitation methods achieved average BP detections of 170 and 177, compared to 31 by a solvent-solvent extraction method. Considering potentially allergenic proteins, 53 (camel) and 52 (cow) were identified. Of these, 62 % of the potential allergens in cow, had orthologous counterparts in camel milk. However, the major milk allergen β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg) was not detected in camel milk. Our results provide a comprehensive proteomic resource of camel and cow milk products, mapping potential allergens and BPs that affect health.