Lipid and protein composition of a membrane-rich fraction of butter oil

Abstract

SummaryLipid and aqueous extracts of bovine milk and 5 fractions prepared from bovine milk, including a membrane-rich fraction (MRF) isolated during butter oil production, were analysed for neutral lipid, phospholipid, protein and glycoprotein. The MRF showed an 8·5-fold enrichment in the phospholipid: protein ratio compared to whole milk. The percentage distribution of the 3 major phospholipid classes, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl choline and sphingomyelin was 30, 36, 31 % respectively, the values of which differ slightly from those of whole milk. Fatty acid analysis of the major neutral and phospholipid classes indicated a predominance of palmitate, stearate and oleate. SDS polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gradients indicated that the percentage protein having a mol. wt in excess of 75000 increased by a factor of 2 in the MRF when compared to milk. Glycoprotein profiles of the MRF and its precursor cream differ significantly from the patterns evident in whole milk and skim-milk.