Discriminant amino-acid components of Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) and Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) meat

• First study comparing Bactrian and dromedary camel meat composition.
• Amino-acid composition patterns of 6 muscles from these two species are different.
• Discriminant analysis distinguishes the two meats with >93% of well-classed samples.
• Both meats are rich in methionine and leucine compared to other red meats.
• The amino-acid index of large camelids meat is higher than other red meats.

Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) camels are close species and their hybrids fertile, but until now no comparative data on the nutrient composition of their meat has been available. Six muscle samples were collected from nine Bactrians and 10 dromedaries from Kazakhstan and the Sultanate of Oman, respectively. They were used for amino-acid pattern determination. The essential amino-acid index was higher for all muscles in the dromedary meat than in Bactrian meat with a mean value of 216.9 and 191.6, respectively, which is high compared to other red meats. The between-muscle variability was higher in dromedary than in Bactrian meat and was more important than the between-species variability. However, the two species were well discriminated on the second factor of the linear factorial discriminant analysis with 93.14% well-classed meat based on 7 discriminant amino-acid including 4 essential ones. The Bactrian camel meat was richer in proline and leucine and the dromedary camel meat in serine, tyrosine, histidine, threonine and arginine. In spite of these differences, both meats were characterized by their richness in methionine and leucine. Consequently, the dromedary and Bactrian meats could provide an excellent source of high-quality proteins for human consumers.