When it comes to camels, many people think of the "ships of the desert" that traveled in groups on the Silk Road, or the behemoths in the scenic spots.
When it comes to camel milk, most people shake their heads and say, "I haven't drunk it." ”
Why are camels not unusual, but camel milk products are rarely found on the market?
"Due to the questionable composition of camel milk, easy to deteriorate, and the lack of perfect technical system support, the development of the camel milk industry in the mainland is later than that of Middle Eastern countries. On April 17, in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily, Yang Jie, an expert in Xinjiang's dairy industry technology system and a professor at Xinjiang University, said.
Since 2016, Xinjiang University and Xinjiang Wangyuan Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wangyuan Group") have carried out scientific research on camel milk through school-enterprise cooperation, and have continuously made breakthroughs in basic research, production technology, technical system and other fields, leading the rapid rise of the camel milk industry.
Nutrition: Higher protein content than cow's milk
In the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and the Uygur Pharmacopoeia, there are records of the unique efficacy of camel milk. "Camel milk can cure diseases", this is a saying that has been circulated in the mouths of many herders in Xinjiang.
In 2005, Yang Jie led the scientific research team to launch the first camel milk research project in Xinjiang - "Research on the Bioactive Components of Camel Milk in Xinjiang".
Unexpectedly, the first problem in front of the team turned out to be "camel milk is hard to find"!
"You can't see it in the market, so you have to go to the herdsmen's houses and crowd it. Yang Jie recalled that she led her team to drive into the desert Gobi, following the dotted yurts to find camels, a trip of hundreds of kilometers.
Sometimes I run for most of the day to find the camel, but I miss the milking time. Scientists can only spend the night in the herder's home, waiting for milking time. It is also common for herders to change farms, and to "run away".
After overcoming many difficulties, the team initially discovered the bioactive components of camel milk.
"Camel milk is rich in natural bioactive factors such as lysozyme, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase and immunoglobulins. Compared with cow's milk, it has a higher protein content and more variety. Yang Jie introduced.
Camel milk
In order to accurately determine the composition of camel milk, in 2007, the team used the most advanced protein purification equipment in China to further isolate and identify the bioactive components in camel milk by using biological separation combined with activity tracking methods, forming a huge ingredient database. These scientific research achievements have restored the "no-makeup photos" of camel milk.
Subsequently, Yang Jie led the team to invest in the research of the efficacy of camel milk, gradually explored the molecular mechanism of camel milk on the body's glucose and lipid metabolism and immune regulation, completed the evaluation of its nutritional value, and laid a scientific foundation for the development and utilization of camel milk.
Freshness: Filter out "difficult" bacilli
After making a series of breakthroughs in the field of basic research, Yang Jie often wonders: why camel milk has long become a "frequent guest" on the table of Middle Eastern countries, but has not formed an industry in the mainland?
This question has also been in the mind of Chen Gangliang, chairman of Wangyuan Group. Wangyuan Group is a private enterprise focusing on the development of camel industry, located in Fuhai County, Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, where there are rich camel resources and unique natural environment.
"The main reason is that camel milk is difficult to keep fresh, which hinders the development of the industry. Chen Gangliang told reporters, "At room temperature, fresh milk can only be stored for one to two days, and at most seven days under low temperature conditions." Previously, there was no domestic or even international technology that could solve this problem. ”
In 2007, Chen Gangliang took the lead in establishing Wangyuan Camel Milk Industrial Co., Ltd., and joined hands with many domestic scientific research units to jointly tackle key problems in camel milk preservation technology. At first, they tried to borrow milk preservation and fruit and vegetable processing techniques, but they all failed.
One of the biggest challenges is how to get rid of the "intractable" bacillus. Bacillus is a microorganism in camel milk that can multiply in large numbers and quickly destroy milk quality in a conventional environment. They seem to be "invulnerable" – they can survive heating at 100°C for half an hour, or after being refrigerated at low temperatures for long periods of time.
After repeated experiments, the research team found that after continuous heating at a high temperature of 135°C for 15 minutes, the bacillus can basically be destroyed. However, as a result, the bioactive substances of camel milk are lost, and the nutrients are lost, and the efficacy is greatly reduced.
After nearly 100 experiments, there is still no breakthrough in research.
High temperature sterilization didn't work, so the team had to find another way. Using a high-powered microscope, they found that the bacilli produced at different stages had different shapes and had a common feature – they were significantly larger than most active substances.
Chen Gangliang had a flash of inspiration in his mind: "Find a strainer, filter out the bacillus, and leave the active substance!"
However, this is easier said than done. What materials to choose for the filter membrane, what kind of process equipment to use?
Running through the market, they found a medical-grade biofilter membrane. Then, the team designs the drawings themselves, formulates the process flow, and installs the complete set of equipment......
"In the 103rd experiment, we finally succeeded in filtering out the bacillus. Chen Gangliang said, "We have overcome the world's problem of keeping camel milk fresh!"
Camel milk preservation technology production line
In July 2010, the first batch of liquid camel milk rolled off the production line, with a shelf life of an astonishing 180 days at room temperature. At the same time, camel milk powder was also introduced, which has a shelf life of up to 18 months.
育种：筛选出高产泌乳驼
More than a decade ago, there were only 50,000 camels in Xinjiang, but now the number has reached about 220,000. Initially, there were only two or three camel milk companies, but now they have grown to more than 30.
With the formation of the camel milk industry, a number of problems have gradually emerged - uneven product quality, low lactation of camels, and increased risk of disease due to intensive breeding......
In 2016, Chen Gangliang found Yang Jie to find a way to solve the problem. The road of cooperation between Xinjiang University and Wangyuan Group was opened, and the two sides jointly established the Xinjiang Camel Industry Engineering Center to provide technical support for industrial development.
Camels have a litter every two years, and the breeding cycle is long, and the daily milk production is generally only two or three kilograms. There is an urgent need to develop camel breeding and efficient breeding technology.
The Camel Industry Engineering Center used advanced genome resequencing and transcriptomic technology to screen out SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) markers unique to high-yielding lactating camels, and carried out population genetic effect analysis and breeding value evaluation.
"At present, we have found high-yielding lactating camels with a daily milk production of 6.5 kilograms, and the breeding work is in full swing. Yang Jie said.
Camels, which carry high-yielding genes, are slowly growing up. The camel industry engineering center has simultaneously formulated scientific breeding procedures, rebuilt the technical systems of health management and disease prevention and control, and "cleared the obstacles" for the centralized breeding of camels.
Science and technology empower the industry. Today, in Xinjiang, there are more and more herders who breed camels with a scale of more than 100 peaks. Wangyuan Group has also established a centralized camel breeding base "Ten Thousand Camel Park".
Wangyuan Group "Ten Thousand Camel Park"
In August 2023, the "Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies in the Camel Milk Industry" project won the first prize of the 2022 Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Science and Technology Progress Award.
This year, the intelligent factory invested and built by Wangyuan Group will be put into use. At that time, its daily output of bottled fresh camel milk and sour camel milk will reach 200,000 bottles, and the daily processing capacity of camel milk raw materials will reach 100 tons, making it the largest camel milk production capacity in the world.
Yu Yingrong, second-level inspector of the Science and Technology Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and director of the Rural Science and Technology Department, told reporters: "In the future, we will continue to grasp the characteristic industry of camel milk, encourage enterprises to increase investment in innovation, deepen the combination of production, education, research and application, practice the concept of big food with practical actions, and enrich the 'milk jar' of Chinese!"
Source: Science and Technology Daily