E-beam irradiation of defatted liquid camel and cow milk fractions: Antiproliferative, antidiabetic and antioxidant activities

The aim of this work was to assess the suitability of electron beam (e-beam) irradiation (at 5, 10 and 20 kGy) to treat defatted liquid cow and camel milk and their whey and casein fractions. The different milk fractions were investigated for their antiproliferative, antidiabetic and antioxidant activities. Irradiated milk fractions did not indicate any cytotoxic effect on HEK293T cell line, except for sweet whey of cow milk treated at 20 kGy, the acid whey of camel milk treated at 5, 10 and 20 kGy and β casein of cow and camel milk treated at 10 and 20 kGy. The non-irradiated and irradiated whey fractions of camel milk and the irradiated β-casein of cow milk demonstrated anti-proliferative activity against A549 tumor cell line. Irradiated and non-irradiated whey fractions of camel and cow milk exhibited interesting inhibition percentage of α-amylase (varying from 73.24 ± 2.71% to 98.99 ± 0.84% for cow milk and from 64.68 ± 2.49% to 99.39 ± 0.17% for camel milk). Whey fractions seemed to be the most resistant to e-beam irradiation. Ebeam treatment (5–20 kGy) preserved or improved the DPPH radical scavenging activity of the majority of cow and camel milk fractions, ranging from 6.27 ± 0.74% to 59.75 ± 0.84%. Industrial relevance: The present work highlighted the suitability of e-beam irradiation as safe and friendly treatment for the preservation of cow and camel milk and corresponding whey and casein fractions. E-beam treatment at 10 kGy seems to be effective treatment for whey of camel and cow milk, preserving or enhancing the antiproliferative, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. Ebeam treatment at 5–10 kGy is suggested to be an emergent food preservation technology with the ability of preservation or promotion of milk bioactivity.