Chemical Characterization of Oligosaccharides in the Milk of Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Abstract

It has recently been recognized that human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have several biological functions. They stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the infant colon, they act as receptor analogs that inhibit the attachment of pathogenic microorganisms to colonic mucosa, and small amounts are absorbed into the circulation, where they modulate immunoreactivity. Infant formulas areproduced from mature bovine milk. Since HMOs haveseveral important biological functions, other materialswhose functions are similar to those of HMOs, couldprofitably be incorporated into the milk replacer. Therefore studies on milk oligosaccharides of domestic animals such as cow, water buffalo, goat and sheep have been recently progressed, especially in structural characterization. The present study was aimed to chemically characterize milk oligosaccharides from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) milk samples. Neutral and acidicoligosaccharides were separated from the carbohydrate fraction of water buffalo milk by gel filtration which was followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and characterized by1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR). In water buffalo milk samples, three oligosaccharides were identified: 3’-sialyllactose, 6’-sialyllactose and α3’-N-acetylgalactosaminyllactose. The first two oligosaccharides were also identified in cow milk, and as it is in cow milk, lactose is also predominant saccharide in water buffalo milk.