**5. Economic value of camel milk and its by-products**

 Although most of the camel milk is consumed raw or fermented by the local community, this milk and its by-products are now being promoted in the market and have considerable economic importance internationally due to the following properties: (i) It has specific nutritional features and health benefits; (ii) camels possess exceptional adaptation to poor quality and quantity of feed, and they can produce a significant amount of milk during the whole year, even during the dry season [30, 31]. Milk yield in camels is approximately 3.5 kg/day in hot summer [32], and it could reach a maximum of 6000 L/lactation in selected breeds in Saudi Arabia [33]; (iii) it has a long lactation period of about 12 months but it may last up to 24 months depending on the farming and breeding systems [21]; (iv) it can significantly contribute to the national revenues as the total production of camel milk was estimated to be 1.3 million tons [34], with the global trade of \$10 billion per year; (v) machine milking of dromedaries is now under design to improve the camel milk production [35].

Shortly, a higher amount of camel milk is expected to be available to the dairy industry. There are indications of the potential for growth of this market in the future and that camel milk manufacturers will dramatically expand [36]. Many manufacturers of camel milk-based products are spread out worldwide; for example, Desert Farms (US), Camel Milk Victoria (Australia), Vital Camel Milk (Kenya), Camel Milk UK (UK), Wang Yuan Camel Milk (China), and Camel Milk

### **Figure 3.**  *Camel milk based products in Australia.*

 Australia (Australia). Large camel farms are being established, and increased funding for camel research is noticed. Moreover, a wide variety of camel milk-derived products are now available in the market, including various new dairy products, such as pasteurized milk, fermented milk, flavored milk, butter, cheese, and milk tea [37, 38]. As a specific example, Bactrian camel milk is used for making cheese, butter, and yogurt in Mongolia [13]. Traditional fermented camel milk is produced and consumed in several countries, such as, Shubat (Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan), Suusac (Eastern Africa, Kenya, and Somalia), and Garis (Sudan and Somalia). Despite the effort made by researchers to produce yogurt from camel milk, the manufacturing of this by-product needs more study due to the fact that camel milk does not easily coagulate [39]. In Dubai, a coffee shop business specializing in different hot and cold drinks and pastries made with fresh camel milk called "Cafe2go" was set up recently. Since 2011, it has expanded successfully to 10 locations in Dubai and Pakistan and is soon to be opened in Oman and Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, camel milk utilization is not limited anymore to the producer region only, but it is now marketed overseas also. It has recently been exported from the United Arab Emirates to the European Union [40]. Furthermore, recent studies have investigated the optimization of fermentation processes [41] and cheeseproduction from camel milk [42].

 Based on the belief of many consumers that camel milk products address various allergies and skin problems, this milk reached the international markets due to the manufacturing of a broad range of healthcare products, including soap, lip balm, hand cream, and lotions. Other cosmetic product lines based on camel milk have also been developed (**Figure 3**).
