Abstract:
Milk from ruminant species is one of the main components
of the human diet, especially in Western countries, because
of its balanced nutritional composition and its versatility to
be transformed into a great diversity of products. Although
cows’ milk is the main contribution to global milk production, in some countries, such as India and Pakistan, the
majority of milk is produced by buffaloes, whereas in the
Mediterranean region the production of milk by small ruminants such as sheep and goats is of considerable importance
compared with that of cows’ milk (Manfredini & Massari,
1989; Fox, 2011)