Recovery of caprine milk oligosaccharides with ceramic membranes

Caprine milk contains a large amount of different sialylated and neutral lactose-derived oligosaccharides compared to cow or sheep milk. In addition, its oligosaccharide profile is very similar to human milk, which suggests it has similar physiological activity. Thus, the caprine milk oligosaccharide fraction is a very promising food ingredient for human nutrition applications, especially for the supplementation of infant formulas. In this research work, a two-step cross-flow filtration process was designed in order to recover the caprine milk oligosaccharides. Tubular ceramic membranes with molecular weight cut-offs of 50 and 1 kDa, respectively, were employed in two separated, consecutive continuous diafiltration steps, in which the cumulated permeate from the first step was the initial feed in the second one. A final retentate containing more than 80% of the original oligosaccharides and less than 4% of the original lactose and protein was obtained.