**2.4 Equine milk**

Horses can live in many different environments and develop in different ways. The first ancestor of Hyracotherium lived about 60 million years ago. They have four toes on the front paw and three toes on their hind legs [23]. Currently, there are hundreds of breeds of equine present all over the world. However, dairy breeds are predominately found in Mongolia and USSR. Among the dairy breeds, Haflinger horses are the most important milk breed of adults weighing 500 kg, known for their milk production capacities in European countries. [24]. The lactation of mare starts almost 7 days after birth and lasts almost up to 5–8 months of foal age [25]. Due to small mammary gland, mare requires multiple milking (5–7/day) with 2–3 hour intervals [26]. However, the gross milk composition of different breeds varies with an average of fat (1.25%), protein (2.15%), lactose (6.40%), and small amount of minerals 0.4% [25].



*Reconnoitering Milk Constituents of Different Species, Probing and Soliciting Factors… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82852* 

*SFA = saturated fatty acids; USFA = unsaturated fatty acids; SCFA = short-chain fatty acids; MCFA = medium-chain fatty acids; LCFA = long-chain fatty acids; FFA = free fatty acids; HDL = high-density lipids; LDL = low-density lipids; FG = fat globule; α-La = alpha lactalbumin; β-Lg = β-lactoglobulin; Ig = immunoglobulin; LF = lactoferrin; Lyz = lysozyme; A.A = amino acid; LA = linoleic acid; ALA = alpha linolenic acid; CLA = conjugated linoleic acid; ETC = electron transport chain; CMA = cow milk allergy; ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme; CHD = congenital heart defect; PGRP = peptidoglycan recognition proteins; NANA = N-acetylneuraminic acid.* 

### **Table 1.**

*General and differential compositional-cum-functional physiology of bioactive components of milk from different animals.* 
