Indigenous Enzymes in Milk

Abstract

Included among the minor proteins in milk are indigenous enzymes, about 60 of which have been reported in bovine milk. About 20 of these have been isolated and characterized in considerable detail; most of these have some technological significance. The remaining 40 enzymes, which are of little or no significance, at least at present, have been demonstrated via their activity but have not been isolated. The first demonstration of an indigenous enzyme in milk was that of a peroxidase by G. Arnold in 1881 (see Andrews et al., 1992). Since then, a very considerable literature has accumulated and has been reviewed periodically (Whitney, 1958; Wuthrich et al., 1963; Shahani, 1966; Got, 1971; Groves, 1971; Dwivedi, 1973; Shahani et al., 1973; Fox and Morrissey, 1981; Blanc, 1983; Kitchen, 1985; Andrews et al., 1991, 1992; Swaisgood, 1995; Fox, 2002).