Triglycerides characterization of mare milk in relation to other mammalian milk in various species and lactations

• Mare mature milk had the highest levels of OLO, OPL, and LPL than other animal milk. • The MLL-TAG type of mare milk (34.10–36.46 %) was closest to breast milk. • Mare milk TAGs were rich in linolenic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid. • LnOLn, LPLn, LPoL, LLnL, and PLnP were characteristic TAGs of mare milk. The triglyceride (TAG) composition of mare milk and that of cow, goat, camel, and donkey milk were compared by UPLC-ESI-MS and distinguished between colostrum and mature milk. The percentage of large molecular weight TAGs in mare milk was lower than that in camel milk. The MLL-TAGs of mare milk exhibited the greatest similarity to those of breast milk. Additionally, mare mature milk exhibited the highest levels of OLO, OPL, and LPL compared to the other milk samples, while camel colostrum milk displayed the highest content of OPO. According to the orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model, LnOLn, LPLn, LPoL, LLnL, and PLnP were identified as distinctive TAGs in mare milk. The characteristic TAGs in non-ruminant milk were LaML, PoCO, and PLaL, while SLS, PMS, OSO, and MaPS were found in ruminant milk. These biomarkers may be utilized to ascertain the provenance of unidentified or adulterated milk samples.