Comparative study of the oligosaccharide profile in goat, bovine, sheep, and human milk whey.

Milk oligosaccharides are high added value compounds that could be obtained by exploiting cheese whey, a byproduct of dairy industry. The objective was to compare the abundance and diversity of oligosaccharides in whey samples from domestic animals and humans. During fresh cheese making, whey samples were collected and analyzed by untargeted and targeted small molecule analysis using high-resolution mass-spectrometry. A great similarity in the metabolite profile between goat and sheep was observed. Up to 11 oligosaccharides were observed in the sheep whey from those typically found in humans. The concentration of 2'-Fucosyllactose (0.136 ± 0.055 g/L) and 3-Fucosyllactose (0.079 ± 0.009 g/L) were significantly higher (p-value <0.01) in sheep whey, while the concentration of 3'-Sialyllactose (0.826 ± 0.638 g/L) was higher in goat whey. No significant differences were observed between goat and sheep whey for the other oligosaccharides (p-value >0.05). Therefore, sheep and goat whey could become an important source of oligosaccharides through their revalorization.