Lipidomics profile shows differences of polar lipids between donkey and bovine colostrum: a comparative study

Donkey colostrum (DC) is recognized as a valuable nutritional source; however, its extremely low lipid content (especially polar lipids) demands lipid supplementation during processing through the addition of fish oils, vegetable oils, or functional lipids. Therefore, a comprehensive characterization of polar lipids in both DC and bovine colostrum (BC) is required. In this study, totally 11 subclasses of 206 polar lipids in DC and BC were characterized. Using rigorous screening criteria (VIP > 1, P < 0.05, and fold change >2 or < 0.5), 141 lipid species were identified as having significantly different polar lipids (SDPLs) between DC and BC. Subsequent investigations revealed six key lipid metabolic pathways, with the glycerophospholipid metabolism being the most critical. These findings substantially enhance our understanding of the polar lipid differences between DC and BC, while providing a theoretical basis for synergistic utilization of the two milk sources to optimize nutritional enrichment strategies.