Activation of milk lipase by serum proteins: possible role in the occurrence of lipolysis in raw bovine milk.

The increase in unesterified fatty acid content of unpasteurized bulk milk in storage at 4 degrees C in the presence of known effectors of bovine milk lipoprotein lipase originating from bovine serum was studied. Bovine serum and high density lipoprotein (HDL) caused an increase in developed unesterified fatty acid levels whilst lipoprotein-free serum, apo-HDL, all individual apo-HDL tested, and the unfractionated C-peptide fraction were without lipolytic effect. In the presence of HDL-lipids, 2 C-peptides stimulated considerable lipolysis, as did the combination of HDL-lipid with unfractionated C-peptides. These characteristics of unesterified fatty acid development could be duplicated in milk whose endogenous lipolytic activity had been destroyed by heat treatment (75 degrees C for 5 min) and then restored by addition of purified bovine milk lipoprotein lipase. Radioactively labelled glycerol trioleate in milk was not hydrolysed in the same way as milk fat on the addition of serum liproproteins.