Bioactive Properties of Goat Milk: It’s Hypoallergenic, Nutritional and Therapeutic Significance: A Review

Abstract

This paper reviewed researches on bioactive properties of goat milk: it’s hypoallergenic, nutritional and therapeutic significance. Dietary proteins of animal or plant foods can provide rich sources of biologically active peptides. Once bioactive peptides are liberated by digestion or proteolysis, they may impart in the body different physiological effects on the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. However, the original macromolecular proteins such as cow milk caseins and whey proteins can cause allergic responses to certain individuals. Goat milk, on the other hand, has been known for its hypoallergenic and therapeutic properties in human nutrition and health, suggesting that Caprine milk may possess certain bioactive and metabolically active components that may be unique to this species’ milk. Considering the bioactive components in milk, the hypoallergenic properties of goat milk are of great importance to human health and medicine. This premise has been of continuous keen interest to goat milk producers and consumers, especially in recent years in developed countries. Goat milk also exhibits significant nutritional and therapeutic functions in abnormal or disease conditions of human nutrition and health, due mainly to some of its biologically active compounds. Goat milk recommended as a “useful alternative to cow milk” because Caprine milk apparently has certain growth factors and bioactive components, which may not be equally available in bovine milk.