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- Written by: Michael Mullan
Milk provides the newborn (neonate) with nutrients and an array of antimicrobial factors. These are believed to help protect neonates from infection until their own immune system has developed.This section of the dairy science website reviews the properties and potential nutritional and industrial significance of the major antimicrobial systems of milk, with particular reference to the lactoperoxidase system.
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- Written by: Michael Mullan
The LP system can be used to prevent bacterial deterioration of milk when refrigeration is not available. It can also be used to prolong the safe storage life of refrigerated milk. Arguably the LP-system, immunoglobulins and lactoferrin have potential to be of value in neonate nutrition. The remaining section largely concerns the exploitation of the LP-system in the protection of neonates.
Manufacture of milk powders containing a functional LP system
That milk provides neonates with nutrients and various protective antimicrobial factors has been discussed previously. Because many of these factors are denatured by the heat treatments used in milk replacer manufacture commercial products, unless specially produced, generally do not contain antimicrobial proteins in active form.
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- Written by: Michael Mullan
Peroxidases catalyse reactions in which hydrogen peroxide is reduced and a suitable electron donor is subsequently oxidised. A wide variety of organic and inorganic substances can serve as electron donors, but substrate specificity varies between various peroxidases.
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- Written by: Emily Haque and Rattan Chand
Milk is an excellent source of well balanced nutrients and also exhibits a range of biological activities that influence digestion, metabolic responses to absorbed nutrients, growth and development of specific organs, and resistance to disease. These biological activities are mainly due to the peptides and proteins in milk. However, some of the biological activity of milk protein components is latent, and is released only upon proteolytic action. Bioactive peptides are produced during digestion of milk in the gastrointestinal tract, and also during fermentation and food processing.