Mineral content in goats' milks

Concentrations of eight essential minerals were determined in 78 samples of goats' milk from the Canary Islands. The following mean values (ranges) were found: Se (mug/L), 19.98 (9.2-31.2); Fe (mg/L), 0.52 (0.19-1.17); Cu (mg/L), 0.17 (0.08-0.31); Zn (mg/L), 3.31 (1.6-4.6); Na (mg/L), 514 (289-906); K (mg/L), 1585 (1212-2160); Ca (mg/L), 1533 (1118-1962); and Mg (mg/L), 157 (101-210). Comparing with data for human milk and cows' milk from the Canary Islands, the mean concentrations of Se, K and Mg arranged in according the following sequence: goats' milk > cows' milk > human milk. Cows' milk had the highest (P < 0.05) mean concentration for Ca and Zn, while humans had the highest (P < 0.05) mean concentration for Cu. The milk of goats milked once per day had significantly higher concentrations of Se and lower Mg and Zn than the milk of goats milked twice per day. While the concentrations of Na and Mg increased significantly from March to August, the concentrations of Se, Fe and Cu in goats' milk decreased significantly from March to June.