Like all other foods of plant or animal origin, milk contains several indigenous enzymes which are constituents of the milk as secreted. The principal constituents of milk (lactose, lipids and proteins) can be modified by exogenous enzymes, added to induce specific changes. Exogenous en- zymes may also be used to analyse for certain constituents in milk. In addition, milk and most dairy products

The water content of dairy products ranges from around 2.5 to 94%(w/w) (Table 7.1) and is the principal component by weight in most dairy products, including milk, cream, ice-cream, yogurt and most cheeses. The moisture content of foods (or more correctly their water activity, section 7.3), together with temperature and pH, are of great importance to food technology. As described in section 7.8 water plays an extremely important

Vitamins are organic chemicals required by the body in trace amounts but which cannot be synthesized by the body. The vitamins required for growth and maintenance of health differ between species; compounds regarded as vitamins for one species may be synthesized at adequate rates by other species. For example, only primates and the guinea-pig require ascorbic acid (vitamin C; section 6.4) from their diet; other species possess the enzyme gluconolactone oxidase which is necessary for the synthesis of vitamin C from D-glucose or D-galactose

The salts of milk are mainly the phosphates, citrates, chlorides, sulphates, carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium, potassium, calcium and mag- nesium. Approximately 20 other elements are found in milk in trace amounts, including copper, iron, silicon, zinc and iodine. Strictly speaking

4.7.I Occurrence and microheterogeneity B-Lactoglobulin is a major protein in bovine milk, representing about 50% of total whey protein and 12% of the total protein of milk. It was among the first proteins to be crystallized, and since crystallizability was long considered to be a good criterion of homogeneity, B-Ig, which is a typical

Normal bovine milk contains about 3. 5% protein. The conce changes significantly during lactation, especially during the first ft post-partum(Figure 4. 1); the greatest change occurs in the whey fraction(Figure 4.2). The natural function of milk proteins is to supply

The stability, or instability, of the milk fat emulsion is very significant with respect to many physical and chemical characteristics of milk and dairy products. The stability of the emulsion depends strongly on the integrity of

The milks of all mammals contain lipids but the concentration varies widely between species from c. 2% to greater than 50%(Table 3. 1). The principal function of dietary lipids is to serve as a source of energy for the neonate and the fat content in milk largely reflects the energy requirements of the species, e.g. land animals indigenous to cold environments and marine

Lactose is the principal carbohydrate in the milks of all mammals; non mammalian sources are very rare. Milk contains only trace amounts of other sugars, including glucose(50 mg\), fructose, glucosamine, galac- tosamine, neuraminic acid and neutral and acidic oligosaccharides The concentration of lactose in milk varies widely between species(Table 2.1). The lactose content of cows'milk varies with the breed of cow

Milk is a fluid secreted by the female of all mamalian species, of which there are more than 4000, for the primary function of meeting the complete nutritional requirements of the neonate of the species. In addition, milk serves several physiological functions for the neonate. Most of the non- nutritional functions of milk are served by proteins and peptides which