Comparative Lipidomic Profiling of Camel and Cow Milk from a Shared Semi-Desert Pasture: Implications for Camel Adapta-tion to Arid Environments

opment in desert environments. Using UHPLC-MS/MS and targeted oxylipidomics, we compared milk from free-grazing camels and cows from the same region. We identi-fied 2,460 lipids across 44 subclasses and 11 oxygenated lipids in three groups. Glyc-erophospholipids (GP) were dominant in both. We found 498 differentially expressed lipids, including potential biomarkers such as phosphatidylinositol (PI 18:0/22:3), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE 18:0/22:3), and two triacylglycerol (TG) species. Camel milk was dominated by phosphatidylcholine (PC, approximately 49%) and PI (ap-proximately 22%), whereas cow milk was predominantly composed of TG (nearly 98%). Pathway analysis showed 11 key altered lipid pathways, mainly glycerophospholipid metabolism. These results define camel milk's unique lipid profile—linked to desert adaptation-and provide molecular insights into its role in supporting neonatal camels in arid environments.