World Journal of Animal Science Research Vol. 1, No. 1, December 2013, PP: 01 - 08 Available online at http://wjasr.com/ 1 Research article Physicochemical properties of butter made from camel milk alone and blending it with goat milk Aleme Asresie 1 *, Eyassu Seifu 2 and Mohammed Yusuf Kurtu 2 1* Department of Animal sciences, Adigrat University, P.O. Box. 50, Adigrat, Ethiopia. 1* Corresponding author E- mail: almasres06@gmail.com, Phone cell: +251912085790 2 Department of Animal sciences, Haramaya University, P.O. Box.138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. __________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT In this study the physicochemical properties of butter made from camel milk alone and at different blending levels were assessed. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with five treatments, T1 (100% camel milk), T2 (75% camel and 25% goat milk), T3 (50% camel and 50% goat milk), T4 (25% camel and 75% goat milk) and T5 (100% goat milk). The physicochemical properties of the butter samples were analyzed following standard procedures. The moisture content (39.2%), melting range (42.1 0 C), refractive index (1.592) and acid degree value (8.72% oleic acid) for T1 was significantly (P<0.001) higher than the other butter samples and T1 had significantly (P<0.001) lower fat content(56.8%) than the other samples. The results showed that blending camel milk with goat milk improved physicochemical properties of butter made from camel milk at different blending levels. Copyright © WJASR, all rights reserved. Keywords: Blending, butter, physicochemical properties _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION Ethiopia possesses over 2.4 million dromedary camels that stand the country third in Africa in camel population (FAO, 2010). Camels are kept, among other things mainly for milk production in the pastoral areas. They produce milk for quite longer period even during dry periods compared to cattle (Kurtu, 2003). The majority of camels in the country are found in the drier areas of the Eastern part of the country. Dromedary camels are naturally browsers, thrive on sparse pasture and produce milk where other domesticated animals would virtually starve (El Zubeir et al., 2010). This characteristic makes the lactating camel a very valuable animal for the survival of the camel herders and their family in this harsh environment. The annual camel milk production in Ethiopia is estimated 75,000 tones