Retta Nigussie (Professor)Lemma Alemayehu (PhD)Tefera Genene (PhD)Tadesse Tiringo2018-07-132023-11-092018-07-132023-11-092010-06http://10.90.10.223:4000/handle/123456789/8480A study was carried out on donkey milk in Adea woreda with particular emphasis on characterization of the nutritional and microbiological properties of Abyssinian donkey milk from Adea woreda. The results were compared with those already published in literature for a potential future use as replacement of human breast milk. To this end, the study utilized primary data that were collected through direct collection of milk from 24 Jennies from three selected kebeles of Ada’a woreda; and secondary data were obtained from published literature for comparative purposes. Attempts were primarily made to analyze the physicochemical composition such as fat, total protein, lactose, minerals, vitamins C, acidity or pH, density, total solid and freezing points; and microbiological characteristics. Results indicated that the Abyssinian donkey milk have close similarity with other donkeys milk previously investigated elsewhere for most of the components. More importantly, the present findings confirmed Abyssinian donkey milk to have a very close similarity with human breast milk for protein, lactose, vitamin C, density, and acidity contents. However, it was found to have a significantly higher (p<0.01) concentration in all minerals investigated in this study than human breast milk. With regards to the microbiological properties, it was found out that the donkey milk didn’t ferment, and had lower microbial load as is common in cow’s milk. The present findings can generally provide strong evidence that the Abyssinian donkey milk in Adea woreda can provide an alternative supplement for human breast milk in many aspects of its composition. Key words: Abyssinian donkey, milk, nutritional content, microbiological propertyenAbyssinian donkeymilknutritional contentmicrobiological propertyThesis