Mare’s Milk: Composition, its Properties and Uses in Medicine

Mare's milk is a very valuable organic substance and has a very good potential to replace part of cow's milk. Consumption of cow's milk causes digestive disorders in some people. Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most common food allergies in infants and young children. Therefore, finding a protein substitute that has the same nutritional value is a priority. Mare's milk can be a good substitute for cow's milk, especially for people who suffer from CMA. The prerequisites for this review were the recent interest in mare's milk, associated with the fact that it is an ancient relic of the Turkic peoples and contains a large amount of nutrients with useful properties. This study aimed to systematize relevant information on the composition of mare's milk and its application in medical practice. Literary searches were carried out on Googlescholar, PubMed, Cochrane, Elsevier, CyberLeninka. The keywords for the search were: mare's milk, saumal, composition, properties, use in medicine. Seventy-seven literature sources were selected for the review. Most of the sources are in English, except for one of the bottom 40 sources published in the last 10 years. Among the milk of many mammalian species, mare's milk is highly regarded for its similarity to breast milk in terms of chemical composition, which allows it to be used as a breast milk substitute. It is also used to feed people with various health conditions, in particular in patients at risk, or suffering from tuberculosis, hepatitis C, psoriasis and various types of immunodeficiency. The article describes the rich composition, antibacterial and antiviral properties of mare's milk. Based on the analysis of the literature, it was found that mare's milk is not only a food product and an excellent thirst quencher, but also has valuable nutrients necessary for the human body, in no way inferior to breast milk.