DISTINGUISHING RAW, PASTEURIZED, UHT-TREATED AND BATH- STERILIZED COMMERCIAL MILKS BY THEIR INTERACTION WITH IMMUNOPROBES AGAINST CASEINS AND WHEY PROTEINS.

Polyclonal antibodies were raised against ten immunogens (five native and the same five pasteurized milk proteins: α+Β-casein, κ-casein, whole casein, α-lactalbumin, and Β-lactoglobulin). Indirect competitive enzyme immunoassays with these antibodies were used to assess their ability to distinguish the type of heat treatment that the milk had undergone. Measuring the immunoreactivity of raw milk and commercial heat-treated milks resulted in the finding that the use of a combination of the two most suitable antibodies {against native α-lactalbumin and Β-lactoglobulin} allowed significant {p < 0.001} categorization of milks as raw, pasteurized, UHT-treated or bath-sterilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]