Human milk is considered the golden
standard in infant nutrition.
Free oligosaccharides in human milk provide important health benefits.
These oligosaccharides function as prebiotics, immune modulators,
and pathogen inhibitors and were found to improve barrier function
in the gut. Infant formulas nowadays often contain prebiotics but
lack the specific functions of human milk oligosaccharides (hMOS).
Milk from domesticated animals also contains milk oligosaccharides
but at much lower levels and with less diversity. Goat milk contains
significantly more oligosaccharides (gMOS) than bovine (bMOS) or sheep
(sMOS) milk and also has a larger diversity of structures. This review
summarizes structural studies, revealing a diversity of up to 77 annotated
gMOS structures with almost 40 structures fully characterized. Quantitative
studies of goat milk oligosaccharides range from 60 to 350 mg/L in
mature milk and from 200 to 650 mg/L in colostrum. These levels are
clearly lower than in human milk (5–20 g/L) but higher than
in other domesticated dairy animals, e.g., bovine (30–60 mg/L)
and sheep (20–40 mg/L). Finally, the review focuses on demonstrated
and potential functionalities of gMOS. Some studies have shown anti-inflammatory
effects of mixtures enriched in gMOS. Goat MOS also display prebiotic
potential, particularly in stimulating growth of bifidobacteria preferentially.
Although functional studies of gMOS are still limited, several structures
are also found in human milk and have known functions as immune modulators
and pathogen inhibitors. In conclusion, goat milk constitutes a promising
alternative source for milk oligosaccharides, which can be used in
infant formula.
The market for prebiotics is steadily growing. To satisfy this increasing worldwide demand, the introduction of effective bioprocessing methods and implementation strategies is required. In this chapter, we review recent developments in the manufacture of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). These well-established oligosaccharides (OS) provide several health benefits and have excellent technological properties that make their use as food ingredients especially attractive. The biosyntheses of lactose-based GOS and sucrose-based FOS show similarities in terms of reaction mechanisms and product formation. Both GOS and FOS can be synthesized using whole cells or (partially) purified enzymes in immobilized or free forms. The biocatalysis results in a final product that consists of OS, unreacted disaccharides, and monosaccharides. This incomplete conversion poses a challenge to manufacturers because an enrichment of OS in this mixture adds value to the product. For removing digestible carbohydrates from OS, a variety of bioengineering techniques have been investigated, including downstream separation technologies, additional bioconversion steps applying enzymes, and selective fermentation strategies. This chapter summarizes the state-of-the-art manufacturing strategies and recent advances in bioprocessing technologies that can lead to new possibilities for manufacturing and purifying sucrose-based FOS and lactose-based GOS.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.