794 



VII. LIPID DISTRIBUTION IN SPECIFIC TISSUES 



Table 26 

 The Fat and Cholesterol Content of Milk op Several Species 



° Adapted from H. Nakanishi, Nagoya J. Med. Sci., 5, 190-191 (1931). 



In the case of human milk, Denis and Minot 484 reported a range in chole- 

 sterol content from 0.038 to 0.0096%, while the average proportion in 

 human milk fat was given as 0.42%. Other figures for the cholesterol 

 content of human milk are a low value of 0.014% (with a daily secretion 

 of 2 liters), 485 and 0.026%; cholesterol made up 1% of the total milk fat. 483 

 No relationship between the total fat content of human milk and the chole- 

 sterol level was observed. Cholesterol in human milk was found to be 

 present exclusively as the ester. 480 Ansbacher and Supplee 482 found that a 

 considerable amount of milk cholesterol was combined with lactalbumin. 

 Lange, 486 in his extensive compilation of the cholesterol content of different 

 biological materials, recorded the following average values in milligram per 

 cent: whole milk, 13, 487 whole milk powder, 88, 487 butter, 185, 487 280, 488 

 71, 489 and242. 490 



{2) Factors Altering the Composition and Amount of Milk Fat 



a. Species Variations in Milk Fat. Although marked similarities obtain 

 in the composition of milk fat of different species, certain differences are 

 likewise known. For example, the most outstanding variation between 

 human milk fat and that of other species is in the proportion of butyric 

 and other short-chain acids. Whereas Indian buffalo butterfat contains 

 as much as 15.4% of butyric acid, 491 and the butterfat from the milk of 



484 W. Denis and A. S. Minot, /. Biol. Chem., 36, 59-61 (1918). 



485 H. Knauer, Jahrb. Kinderheilk., Suppl. vol. 22, Abhandl. Kinderheilk., 1-164 (1928). 



486 W. Lange, J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc, 27, 414-422 (1950). 



487 A. Winterstein and K. Schon, "Die Sterine," in G. Hefter and H. Schonfeld, Fette 

 und Fettprodukte, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Springer, Vienna, 1936, 111-144. 



488 R. Okey, J. Am. Dietet. Assoc, 21, 341-344 (1945). 



489 M. Klostermann and H. Opitz, Z. Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussm., 27, 713-723 

 (1914). 



490 P. Berg and J. Angerhausen, Z. Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussm., 28, 145-149 (1914). 



491 K. T. Achaya and B. N. Banerjee, Biochem. J., 40, 664-669 (1946). 



