Prof. Afaf Kamal-Eldin (PI-UAEU), Dr. Mutamed Ayyash (UAEU), and Prof. Mark S Turner (University of Queensland, Australia)
Camel milk (CM) is an important ingredient that can contribute to food security in UAE and other countries with harsh climates. CM may also provide healthier alternatives to bovine milk (BM) for allergic and diabetic individuals. Thus, researchers and the food industry are becoming increasingly interested in CM processing into dairy products. However, fermentation of CM to yoghurt is hampered by the slow growth of fermentation bacteria and the soft and fragile nature of the resulting product.
In this project, we aim to perform comprehensive kinetic analysis and modelling of the fermentation behavior of different bacteria in differently processed camel and cow milks by following a wide range of chemical and biochemical alterations. The large generated set of data will be subjected to comprehensive kinetic and statistical analyses that will enable us to shed light on the biochemical mechanisms responsible for the antibacterial behavior of CM.
This understanding will allow the industry to develop processing methods and technologies that can optimize the production of fermented products from CM and will, thus, contribute to the development of CM dairy industry. Production of such foods may contribute to generation of new tastes and flavors and to improving consumers health.
Keywords: Comprehensive kinetic modelling, antibacterial behavior, camel milk, bovine milk.