Nine months in the gel: protein bands in donkey and human milk

Sampling plan · fills automatically

One cryobox, 18 pooled samples

For each month of lactation, one pooled sample per type of milk was examined, stored at −80 °C.

The gel · tap a lane

Each lane one month

Redrawn from the study’s tables: position of each band by its size (logarithmic). On the right, the ranges the authors assign to the proteins.

Shown are the bands that can be clearly assigned to a month in the tables (human milk 7, donkey milk 10 per month); some small bands below 18 kDa cannot be assigned to a month with certainty. The paper only gives a size range for which band is which protein – the assignment is therefore schematic.

When which protein appears

In the jenny, caseins are initially missing

According to the authors’ text: in months 1 and 2 they found neither α- and β-casein nor β-lactoglobulin in the donkey milk. Lactoferrin and serum albumin were detectable throughout in both types of milk.

Filled dot = detected according to the text, empty dot = not detected according to the text. The authors name β-lactoglobulin only for donkey milk. For human milk, the paper names β-casein from month 2. Lysozyme was found in donkey milk mainly from month 3. Within the caseins, the authors estimated 49.5 % β-casein and 31.5 % α-casein for donkey milk.

Critical assessment

The bridge does not reach the other side

What was measured were band patterns in the gel. In their conclusion, the authors speak of allergies, infants and “pharmafood” – none of which was examined.

For parents: donkey milk is not a substitute for breast milk or infant formula. The study examined neither children nor allergies nor tolerability. Questions about infant nutrition belong in the hands of a doctor.

Editorial assessment: The study describes which protein bands appear in donkey and human milk over nine months – a pattern, not quantities. We expressly do not adopt the authors’ conclusions on allergies and infant nutrition.