Structure elucidation of two novel yak milk oligosaccharides and their DFT studies

Tibetan Plateau yak milk: A comprehensive review of nutritional values, health benefits, and processing technology

Yak milk is a characteristic animal product of yaks in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Although yak milk production is low, it is richer in nutrients such as protein, fat, and lactose, a more comprehensive range of bioactive components, and unique microbial resources than Holstein cow milk. The plateau environment makes yak milk resistant to hypoxia, anti-fatigue, antioxidant, antibacterial, and relieves chronic diseases. In this paper, based on the systematic analysis of yak milk research results in the past 20 years using CiteSpace 6.1.R2, we reviewed yak lactation performance and nutritional efficacy of yak milk. This paper summarizes the improvement of traditional yak dairy processing technology, and also focuses on the microbial diversity of yak milk sources and their beneficial effects. The purpose of this review is to provide scientific support for the development of a quality yak milk industry on the Tibetan plateau.

Creation of a milk oligosaccharide database, MilkOligoDB, reveals common structural motifs and extensive diversity across mammals

The carbohydrate fraction of most mammalian milks contains a variety of oligosaccharides that encompass a range of structures and monosaccharide compositions. Human milk oligosaccharides have received considerable attention due to their biological roles in neonatal gut microbiota, immunomodulation, and brain development. However, a major challenge in understanding the biology of milk oligosaccharides across other mammals is that reports span more than 5 decades of publications with varying data reporting methods. In the present study, publications on milk oligosaccharide profiles were identified and harmonized into a standardized format to create a comprehensive, machine-readable database of milk oligosaccharides across mammalian species. The resulting database, MilkOligoDB, includes 3193 entries for 783 unique oligosaccharide structures from the milk of 77 different species harvested from 113 publications. Cross-species and cross-publication comparisons of milk oligosaccharide profiles reveal common structural motifs within mammalian orders. Of the species studied, only chimpanzees, bonobos, and Asian elephants share the specific combination of fucosylation, sialylation, and core structures that are characteristic of human milk oligosaccharides. However, agriculturally important species do produce diverse oligosaccharides that may be valuable for human supplementation. Overall, MilkOligoDB facilitates cross-species and cross-publication comparisons of milk oligosaccharide profiles and the generation of new data-driven hypotheses for future research.