Characterization and Comparison of Phospholipid Fatty Acids and Molecular Species in Different Animal Milk

Abstract

Phospholipids are increasingly recognized as nutrients with potential health benefits, but comparative studies on the composition of phospholipids in animal milk have not been thorough. In this study, the phospholipid composition of four types of animal milk (cow, goat, donkey, and yak milk) was detected, and 33 fatty acids and 74 molecular species of phospholipids were found. Among the four types of animal milk, C16:0, C18:0, and C18:1 were the major fatty acids of phospholipids, and the fatty acids were mainly saturated fatty acids. Additionally, the molecular species of phospholipids in various animal milk were also different, and 18:0/18:2 was the most abundant molecular species. Furthermore, significantly different phospholipid molecular species of each two groups were screened out. The results reported herein will contribute to understanding the natural differences in functional and nutritional properties of milk phospholipids from different species and facilitate the utilization of various animal milk sources.

Keywords: Cow milk, Goat milk, Phospholipids, Fatty acids, Molecular species, Lipidomics