Composition and oligosaccharides of a milk sample of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca

• Published in: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2003-07, Vol.135 (3), p.439-448
• Main Authors: Nakamura, Tadashi, Urashima, Tadasu, Mizukami, Taiji, Fukushima, Michihiro, Arai, Ikichi, Senshu, Tatsudo, Imazu, Koji, Nakao, Tatsuko, Saito, Tadao, Ye, Zhiyong, Zuo, Hong, Wu, Kongju
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Carbohydrate Sequence; Casein; Caseins - analysis; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Fatty acid; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Giant panda; Lipids; Milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk Proteins - analysis; Molecular Sequence Data; Oligosaccharides; Oligosaccharides - analysis; Oligosaccharides - chemistry; Structure; Ursidae; Whey Proteins
• ISSN: 1096-4959; 1879-1107
• DOI: 10.1016/S1096-4959(03)00093-9

A milk sample from a captive giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca), obtained at 13 days postpartum, contained 7.1% protein, 1.6% carbohydrate, 10.4% lipid and 0.9% ash. The ratio of casein to whey proteins was 5.0:2.1. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of the whey protein fraction showed the presence of at least two major proteins other than α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin. SDS-PAGE and urea-gel electrophoresis showed that αs-casein is not a major component. The proportions of triacylglycerol, cholesterol, cholesterol esters and phospholipid were 90.5, 5.3, 0.96 and 3.1%, of the total lipid, respectively. The dominant saccharide in the panda milk was Gal(α1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (isoglobotriose). The milk contained, in addition, lesser amounts of lactose, Gal(α1-3)Gal(β1-4)[Fuc(α1-3)]Glc (fucosyl isoglobotriose), Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (3′- N-acetylneuraminyl-lactose), Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)Glc (6′- N-acetylneuraminyl-lactose) and Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-4)[Fuc(α1-3)]Glc.