1. What is lactoferrin?

2. Which foods are rich in lactoferrin?
According to the "Expert Consensus on the Health Effects of Lactoferrin in Infants and Young Children (2018)":

Lactoferrin is an iron-binding glycoprotein in the transferrin family. It is present in human milk and various secretions, with the highest content in breast milk.

Among them, human colostrum has the highest average lactoferrin content, reaching 4.9g/L; after breast milk matures, the average lactoferrin content drops by about half, to approximately 2.1g/L.

Fresh milk also contains lactoferrin, but the average content is much lower, only about 0.1g/L, which is 20 to 50 times different from breast milk.

Generally, the lactoferrin content of formula milk powder with added lactoferrin is usually between 35~50mg/100g. Calculated based on the average value of 40mg/100g, 700mL of formula milk per day can consume about 36mg of lactoferrin, which is higher than breast milk. animal.

The lactoferrin content of some milk powder brands is relatively high, reaching about 450mg/100g (21mg/kj), which is 10 times that of other brands. But generally speaking, the price is also more expensive.

The amino acid sequences of human and bovine lactoferrin are only 69% homologous. Although they have similar biological activities, they are only similar after all. We need to be more careful about the effect of bovine lactoferrin and whether it has any other negative effects on the baby. Therefore, we would like to remind mothers not to be superstitious about some so-called "colostrum" products that contain high lactoferrin.

also known as lactoferrin, is a multifunctional globular glycoprotein that belongs to thetransferrin family.lt is released by certain acinarcells and can also be found in mid-phase neutrophils.Lactoferrin is an innate defense component of the human immunesystem that primarily affects mucous membranes and has antibacterial (and antifungal) activity. lt can be obtained byrecombinant DNA technology or by extracting it from milk.