In vitro digestion of donkeys' milk proteins

In the context of non bovine milk, goats and equidae represented, since early ages, useful milk providers in those cases when the replacement of human milk was compelling and/or when bovine milk leaded to food adverse reactions. In the biotechnology era, the systematic analysis of milk components has recently been extended to the study of quality connected to human health. In the complexity of milk molecules, proteins for their implication in digestion and in the adverse reaction processes represent the m ain topic of genomic and proteomic studies. The general aim of the project is to establish a joined research between the two involved groups in order to develop common interests in the field of biotechnology applied to milk and milk products. In particula r the project will be carried out on the basis of the research performed at Department IKBM, University of Life Sciences, focused on the development of an in vitro digestion model of caprine milk proteins in order to mimic human digestion. On this regard, during the grant period, laboratory analyses on donkey milk samples, characterized by different protein patterns, will be performed with the aim of testing the digestibility of protein fraction and assess the implications with the human health.