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Milk Fat Synthesis

Department of Animal Husbandry, University of California, Davis

ABSTRACT

The origin of milk fat in general, and of the short chain fatty acids in particular, has resisted the investigations of scientists for more than half a century—even though their labors have been fruitful. Nevertheless, the theory of milk fat synthesis most widely accepted today differs only in degree of refinement from that proposed by Carlo Foa in 1912 (8), despite the development of chromatography, radioactive isotopes, the Warburg apparatus, and the like. This is not to imply that Foa's experiments and techniques left little to be desired nor that his work was overlooked by his successors. On the contrary, nearly everyone has credited Foa with being the first to use perfused udders for the study of synthesis of milk. However, it seems Foa's contributions were more significant than that. He insisted that the udder plays an active role in the synthesis of milk fat, absorbing certain triglycerides from blood and rejecting others.