Milk oligosaccharides: a review

Diana Oliveira, Andrew Wilbey, Alistair S. Grandison, Luisa Bivar Roseiro*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Milk oligosaccharides (OSs) confer unique health benefits to the neonate. Although human digestive enzymes cannot degrade these sugars, they support specific commensal microbes and act as decoys to prevent the adhesion of pathogenic micro-organisms to gastrointestinal cells. The limited availability of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) impedes research into these molecules and their potential applications in functional food formulations. Recent studies show that complex OSs with fucose and N-acetyl neuraminic acid (key structural elements of HMO bioactivity) also exist in caprine milk, suggesting a potential source of bioactive milk OSs suitable as a functional food ingredient.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)305-321
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Journal of Dairy Technology
Volume68
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Caprine milk
  • Carbohydrates
  • Prebiotics

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