In developing nations, the value of goat rearing in giving dietary and financial support to the economically disadvantaged segments of society is widely acknowledged. Goats are able to survive in a variety of environmental settings and can tolerate the harshest whims of nature. India has the most goats, producing three million metric tons of milk per year.

In addition to a longer shelf life and a smaller product volume, proper processing of goat milk's raw form followed by value addition will result in a twofold rise in return from goat milk over current results. Know more about, Can you sell goat milk in Canada? 

However, while working with goat milk, particularly in processing and marketing, certain specific properties, such as significantly smaller size of the fat globules, reduced heat stability, soft curd, and the typical "goaty scent," must be taken into consideration.

Goat milk's physicochemical characteristics

Goat and cow milk have approximately identical specific gravities (the specific gravity ranges between 1.028 and 1.030). Although the viscosity is somewhat less than that of cow milk (13.4 mP at 27 °C), the refractive index value is in the middle of that of cow and buffalo milk. Between 0.0101 and 0.0188 ohm-1 cm-1, the electrical conductivity is measured. The titratable acidity varies between 0.11 and 0.18 when expressed as a percentage of lactic acid, which is once more within the range found in cow milk.

In contrast to cow milk, which has a typical pH range of 6.6 to 6.8, goat milk has a range of 6.5 to 6.9. The curd tension test value is significantly lower than that of cow milk. This test measures the resistance in g that a special multi-bladed curd knife experiences while cutting through the coagulated milk. With pepsin calcium chloride, the average value is 36. Because of this, goat milk is more easily digestible than cow milk.

Milk Lipids from Goats

The odd thing about goat milk's fat globules is that they are smaller in size than those in cow milk. In buffalo milk, fat globules range in size from 2 to 20 microns; in cow and goat milk, they are 1 to 10 microns. From a nutritional standpoint, the number of fat globules fewer than 5 micron is highly essential. Nevertheless, the number of fat globules less than 5 micron is 62% in cow milk compared to around 83% in goat milk. However, this makes producing butter difficult. Furthermore, goat milk does not form a clump when it is cold because it lacks agglutinins.

The makeup of the fatty acids shows that short and medium chain fatty acids, which are assumed to be the cause of the distinctive "goaty odor" in goat milk, are present in higher concentrations. The good news is that they can be fixed by heating the milk, therefore pasteurization eliminates this flaw.

Another group of researchers disputes this assertion and asserts that the buck's presence during the does' nursing is what causes the buck's odor-producing glands to be absorbed. However, this theory has not yet been proven.

Milk of Goats' Proteins

When it comes to protein %, cow milk and goat milk are not dramatically different from one another. Scientists who disagree with one group of experts claim that goat milk contains a-S1 casein.

Regarding the size of the casein micelle, there are notable differences between milk from cows and goats. Compared to goat milk's casein micelles, which measure between 100 and 200 nm, cow milk's casein micelles are small (60 to 80 nm).

Vitamins and minerals

The range of the mineral content is 0.70 to 0.85%. Goat milk includes more calcium, phosphorus, and potassium than human or cow milk. Vitamin levels are comparable to those in both cow and human milk.