Presence of two neutral disaccharides containing N-acetylhexosamine in bovine colostrum as free forms

Abstract

Two neutral disaccharides which comprise 74.0% of the neutral oligosaccharides other than lactose were isolated from bovine colostrum taken 6 h after parturition. The chemical structures were revealed to be galactosyl-beta-1,4-N-acetylglucosamine (N-acetyllactosamine, 70.3%) and N-acetylgalactosaminyl-beta-1,4-glucose (3.7%). The two carbohydrates were the newly found oligosaccharides from mammalian milk in the free forms. 7 days after parturition, they had completely disappeared from bovine milk.