The essential mineral concentration of Torba yoghurts and their wheys compared with yoghurt made with cows', ewes' and goats' milks

Comparative studies on yoghurts made from cows', ewes' and goats' milks with respect to mineral concentrations are limited and warrant further investigation. The objective of this study was to analyse the gross chemical composition as well as the concentration of essential minerals in concentrated (torba) yoghurts made from cows', ewes' and goats' milk compared with those in regular yoghurts and wheys. The elements were determined by simultaneous inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Ewe torba yoghurt was significantly higher in calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, zinc, cobalt, copper and iron concentrations compared with goat and cow torba yoghurts. It is recommended that torba yoghurts made from different types of milk may be considered an important source of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, selenium and zinc over the regular yoghurts and wheys. Whey samples are also an excellent source of lactose as well as sodium and potassium.