Kinetic studies ofin vivodigestion of bovine unheated skim-milk proteins in the rat stomach

Abstract

SummaryThein vivoaction of gastric proteinases on bovine milk proteins was studied in rats fed with skim-milk, by analysing gastric contents after 30, 60 and 240 min of digestion. Gastric proteolysis was already marked after 30 min of digestion and liberated a large number of peptides with different molecular weights. αs1-Casein and β-casein were still the main components of the stomach contents together with α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin, which were little degraded, even after 240 min of digestion. A statistical analysis (multivariate method), made on several parameters (such as pH, N, and NPN) showed changes in the stomach contents during the digestion. The amino acid composition of the protein fraction was close to that of the diet, whilst that of the non-protein fraction was very different, being between the amino acid composition of the endogenous proteins and that of the diet.