Editing Water buffalo (section)

== Products ==

Around 26 million water buffaloes are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QL|title=Crops and livestock products|website=fao.org|access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref> They contribute 72 million tonnes of milk and three million tonnes of meat annually to world food, much of it in areas that are prone to nutritional imbalances. In India, river buffaloes are kept mainly for milk production and for transport, whereas swamp buffaloes are kept mainly for work and a small amount of milk.<ref name= Singh2010>C. V. Singh, R. S. Barwal (2010). Buffalo Breeding Research and Improvement Strategies in India. In: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120417140011/http://vet.unne.edu.ar/revista/21-suple-1/12%20bufalos.pdf ''The Buffalo in the World'']. Proceedings of the 9th World Buffalo Congress, Buenos Aires, April 2010, pages 1024–1031. Archived 17 April 2012.</ref>

===Meat, skin, bone, and horn ===

{{further|Buffalo meat}}

[[File:Bihu dancer with a horn.jpg|thumb|upright|A ''[[bihu]]'' dancer blowing a buffalo [[Hornpipe (instrument)|hornpipe]] ]]

Water buffalo meat or carabeef<ref>{{cite news |last1=Doctor |first1=Vikram |title=Ban on cow slaughter in Maharashtra: Why Indian consumers should insist on buffalo milk & carabeef |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ban-on-cow-slaughter-in-maharashtra-why-indian-consumers-should-insist-on-buffalo-milk-carabeef/articleshow/46487532.cms?from=mdr |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=The Economic Times |date=8 March 2015}}</ref> is a major source of export revenue for India.<ref>{{cite web |last=Raghavan |first=Sharad |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-on-top-in-exporting-beef/article7519487.ece | title=India on top in exporting beef |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]| date=10 August 2015}}</ref> The hides provide tough and useful leather.<ref>{{cite web |title=Water buffalo |url=https://biodb.com/species/water-buffalo/ |website=BioDB |access-date=18 March 2025}}</ref>

The bones and horns are often made into jewellery, especially earrings. Horns are used for the embouchure of musical instruments, such as ''[[ney]]'' and ''[[kaval]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Wear Horn Earrings? |url=http://bandaruorganics.com/buffalo-horn-earrings.pdf |publisher=Bandaru Organics |access-date=14 August 2014 |archive-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310215225/http://bandaruorganics.com/buffalo-horn-earrings.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Dairy ===

{{Further|List of water buffalo cheeses}}

[[File:PCC Dairy products.jpg|thumb|Dairy products of water buffalo milk]]

Water buffalo milk presents physicochemical features different from those of other ruminant species, such as a higher content of [[fatty acid]]s and [[protein]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=D'Ambrosio |first1=C. |last2=Arena |first2=S. |last3=Salzano |first3=A.M. |last4=Renzone |first4=G. |last5=Ledda |first5=L. |last6=Scaloni |first6=A. |year=2008 |title=A proteomic characterization of water buffalo milk fractions describing PTM of major species and the identification of minor components involved in nutrient delivery and defense against pathogens |journal=Proteomics |volume=8 |issue=17 |pages=3657–3666 |doi=10.1002/pmic.200701148|pmid=18668696|s2cid=25778239 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The physical and chemical parameters of swamp-type and river-type water buffalo milk differ.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=M.A.S. |last2=Islam |first2=M. N. |last3=Siddiki |first3=M.S.R. |year=2007 |title=Physical and chemical composition of swamp and water buffalo milk: a comparative study |journal=Italian Journal of Animal Science |volume=6 |issue=Suppl. 2 |pages=1067–1070 |doi=10.4081/ijas.2007.s2.1067 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Water buffalo milk contains higher levels of total solids, [[crude protein]], [[Milk fat|fat]], [[calcium]], and [[phosphorus]], and slightly higher content of [[lactose]] compared with those of [[cow milk]]. The high level of total solids makes water buffalo milk ideal for processing into value-added dairy products such as cheese. The [[conjugated linoleic acid]] content in water buffalo milk ranged from 4.4&nbsp;mg/g fat in September to 7.6&nbsp;mg/g fat in June. Seasons and genetics may play a role in variation of CLA level and changes in gross composition of water buffalo milk.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Han, X. |author2=Lee, F.L. |author3=Zhang, L. |author4=Guo, M.R. |name-list-style=amp |year=2012 |title=Chemical composition of water buffalo milk and its low-fat symbiotic yogurt development |journal=Functional Foods in Health and Disease |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=86–106 |doi=10.31989/ffhd.v2i4.96 |url=http://functionalfoodscenter.net/files/50948434.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Water buffalo milk is processed into a large variety of [[dairy products]], including:

* [[Cream]] [[Churning (butter)|churn]]s much faster at higher fat levels and gives higher overrun than cow cream.<ref name=Borghese>{{cite book |last1=Borghese |first1=A. |year=2005 |chapter=Buffalo Cheese and Milk Industry |pages=185–195 |title=Buffalo Production and Research. REU Technical Series 67 |editor1-last=Borghese |editor1-first=A. |publisher=Inter-regional Cooperative Research Network on Buffalo, FAO Regional Office for Europe |location=Rome}}</ref>
* Butter from water buffalo cream displays more stability than that from cow cream.<ref name=Borghese/>
* [[Ghee]] from water buffalo milk has a different texture with a bigger grain size than ghee from cow milk.<ref name=Borghese/>
* Heat-concentrated milk products in the Indian subcontinent include [[paneer]], [[khoa]], [[rabri]], [[kheer]] and [[basundi]].<ref name=Borghese/>
* [[Fermented milk]] products include [[Dahi (curd)|dahi]], [[yogurt]] and [[strained yogurt]].<ref name=Borghese/>
* [[Whey]] is used for making [[ricotta]] and [[mascarpone]] in Italy, and [[areesh cheese|alkarish]] in Syria and Egypt.<ref name=Borghese/>
* [[Hard cheese]]s include braila in Romania, and [[rumi cheese|rahss]] in Egypt.<ref name=Borghese/>
* [[Soft cheese]]s include [[mozzarella]] in Italy, karish, mish and madhfor in Iraq, alghab in Syria, [[kesong puti]] in the Philippines, and vladeasa in Romania.<ref name=Borghese/>

{| class="wikitable" align="left"  width="auto" style="clear:left"
! colspan=5| Top 10 water buffalo milk producers—2020<ref>{{cite web |title=[no title cited] |date=17 May 2022 |department=Food and Agricultural Organization / Economic and Social Department / Statistical Division |publisher=United Nations |url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/569/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancorzz |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-05-17 |archive-date=26 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726050603/http://faostat.fao.org/site/569/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancorzz}}</ref>
|-
! width="auto" | Country
! width="auto" | Production ([[tonne]]s)
! width="auto" | Note
|-
| India ||align=right| 90,026,273 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=USM|unofficial, semi-official, mirror data}}
|-
| Pakistan ||align=right| 37,256,000 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=O|official figure}}
|-
| China ||align=right| 2,919,966 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est|FAO estimate}}
|-
| Egypt ||align=right| 1,747,641 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Nepal ||align=right| 1,380,600 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Italy ||align=right| 253,830 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Myanmar ||align=right| 205,102 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Iran ||align=right| 128,000 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Mongolia ||align=right| 104,645 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Indonesia ||align=right| 89,983 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| Bangladesh ||align=right| 35,790 ||align=center| {{efn-lr|name=FAO-est}}
|-
| bgcolor=#cccccc|{{noflag}}'''World'''
| bgcolor=#cccccc align=right | '''134,425,197'''
| bgcolor=#cccccc align=right |
|-
|}
{{clear|left}}
{{notelist-lr}}