Molecular Constituents of Milk: The Hidden Healthy Benefits

In the presentation the main molecular constituents of milk will be reviewed, and examples will be presented that highlight the healthy benefits of several of these ingredients. In a second part of the presentation milk proteins will be considered in light of their potential application as precursors of many different biologically active peptides. These peptides are inactive within the protein sequence, and require enzymatic proteolysis for release of the bioactive fragment from the protein precursor. Such activated peptides originating from milk proteins should be taken into account as potential modulators of various regulatory processes in a living system such as immunostimulation, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, opioid peptides, and mineral binding peptides.