MILK

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. The early lactation milk is known colostrums, and carries the mother’s antibodies to the baby. It can reduce the risk of many diseases in the baby. The exact component of raw milk varies by species, but it contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein and calcium as well as vitamin C. Cow’s milk has a ph ranging from 6.4 to .8 making it slightly acidic. Milk contains dozens of other types of protein besides the caseins. They are more water-soluble than the caseins and do not form larger structures. These proteins remain suspended in the whey left behind when the casein coagulate into curds, they are collectively known as whey proteins. Whey proteins make up around twenty percent of the protein in milk, by weight. Lactoglobulin is the most common whey protein by a large margin.

The carbohydrate lactose gives milk its sweet taste and contributes about 40% of whole cow milk’s calories. Lactose is a composite of two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. In nature, lactose is found only in milk and a small number of plants. Other components found in raw cow milk are living white blood cells. Mammary gland cells, various bacteria, and large number of active enzymes are some other components in milk.

NURLIYANA BINTI MOHD NAZRI
A123957