Oligosaccharides of human milk: I. Isolation and characterization

Abstract

A method involving Sephadex gel filtration and paper chromatography is described for the separation and determination of the known oligosaccharides in individual samples of human milk. Using this method, it was found that the four oligosaccharides which contain O-α- l-fucosyl-(1 →∗2)- O-β- d-galactosyl groupings occur in milk from donors with blood type Le(b+) but not in milk from donors with blood type Le(a+).