A study of the effects of plane of nutrition on bovine milk proteins, with particular emphasis on the individual whey proteins : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Animal Science at Massey University

Abstract

Milk and other dairy products comprise a major source of man's food. The milk of the cow (Bos taurus) is of overwhelming importance (F.A.O. Yearbook 1974). Interest in the composition of cows milk stems largely from its importance in the human diet and from the need of milk producers to meet the legal requirements governing its sale (Rook 1961a). Prior to about the 1850's milk had been found to contain fat, sugar, protein and minerals (Jenness and Patton 1959). The development and refinement of qualitative and quantitative techniques has subdivided these gross categories of milk composition into a vast array of molecules (jenness 1974). The composition of cows milk has been extensively reviewed: Cerbulis and Farrell (1975), Jenness (1974), Webb and Johnson (1965), Ling et al. (1961), Rook (1961a & b), Armstrong (1959), Jenness and Patton (1959). The Sale of Food and Drugs Act (l908) prescribed minimum compositional standards required for milk sold or intended for sale in New Zealand. These were"8.5 parts per centum of milk solids other than milk fat and 3.25 parts per centum of milk fat" (Sykes 1952).