12.00pm Monday, 3 April
Room 208
2nd floor, Microbiology Building
720 Cumberland St
Dr Julie Cakebread
Food and Bio-based Products, AgResearch
Milk is a complex food, containing a supply of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates that support growth of the suckling young, and contribute to immune function and gut homeostasis. The majority of bovine milk on the market has undergone processing for reasons of safety, increased shelf life or stability. The impact of processing on milk functionality is not fully understood and is an important area of study.
One of the bioactive proteins in milk is secretory IgA. We investigate functionality of different bovine milks using sIgA as a marker protein. Using an in vitro model we investigate the bacterial binding properties of purified milk-derived sIgA from human and bovine milk. We explore the impact of milk on the microbiota, and on bacterial infection in vivo. We also investigate the impact of milk processing on allergy.
In summary we show that different milk products have different functionalities. This highlights the need to better understand the impact of processing methodology on food functionality.
This seminar is kindly sponsored by: BD Biosciences
