Gastric emptying performance shapes divergent amino acid kinetics of camel and bovine milk: Insights from in vitro and mini-pig models.

Abstract

Camel milk has attracted growing attention for its functional properties, yet its protein digestion and absorption kinetics remain less understood compared with bovine milk. This study combined in vitro digestion with in vivo experiments in Bama minipigs to assess proteolysis and amino acid kinetics. In vitro assays showed similar hydrolysis between 2 milks, but in vivo camel milk digestion was delayed: at 105 min, it formed denser gastric coagula, and whey fragments (10-17 kDa) persisted in duodenal effluents for over 6 h. Plasma amino acid peaks occurred later (bovine milk at 30 min vs camel milk at 60 min), accompanied by weaker cholecystokinin (CCK) and delayed ghrelin responses, indicating reduced gastric emptying performance. These findings highlight a key difference between camel and bovine milk that gastric emptying is the primary determinant of amino acid release, underscoring the importance of physiological regulation and providing guidance for the design of functional dairy products.