Nutritional advantage of protein fraction in equine milk as compared to bovine milk.

摘要

Mare milk utilization is increasing worldwide because its nutritional aspects are similar to those of human milk. The fermentation properties and in vitro protein digestibility of mare milk were determined and compared with those of cow milk. During fermentation (using a starter comprising Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus), the lactic acid bacteria count increased with increasing fermentation time in both types of milk, but the acidification rate of mare milk was lower than that of cow milk. During fermentation the proportion of liberated essential amino acids (EAA) in relation to free amino acids (FAA), of importance for infant nutrition, was higher in mare milk than in cow milk, and the concn. of released glutamic acid and serine, amino acids which have a beneficial role during early post-natal development, were much higher in mare milk. The in vitro digestibility, expressed as non-protein N concn., after 24 h of digestion with gastrointestinal enzymes (pepsin and pancreatin) reached 94.1% with mare milk and 87.2% with cow milk showing higher liberation of FAA during digestion of mare milk. In terms of the proportion of EAA to total FAA in milk during digestion, higher liberation of EAA occurred in mare milk. Thus, it is suggested that mare milk could be more suitable than cow milk for infant and human nutrition.