Researchers find enzyme which has significant dairy processing applications
"If you seek to find what milk components do in the human intestine you need to study the intestinal bacteria that are influenced by human milk in the first place," says scientist.
Press release from the California Dairy Research Foundation.
Recently published work by researchers at the University of California, Davis examines the capability of bifidobacteria to help break down components of breast milk to help improve the overall health of infants. Breast milk provides all of the nutrients necessary to sustain and strengthen infants in the first months of life as well as protection from infections, allergies, and many other illnesses. It also contains glycans (complex sugars) that infants cannot breakdown. With the help of protective bacteria called bifidobacteria, babies are able to process glycans. It has been shown that bifidobacteria can feed off the free glycans in breast milk, but it was not clear until now if these bacteria could also acquire glycans that were linked to glycoproteins that are abundant in breast milk. This research broadens our understanding of the complex processes within the infant gut, and how protective bacteria can improve the nutrition and overall health of children.