Changes in milk carbohydrates during lactation in the common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Marsupialia:Phalangeridae)

Abstract

Milk samples (186) were obtained at various stages of lactation from 27 common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula). Qualitative and quantitative changes in the milk carbohydrates during early and mid-lactation were similar to those previously seen in other marsupials; the principal carbohydrate was lactose early in lactation and higher oligosaccharides in mid-lactation, and the hexose concentration reached a peak during mid-lactation. However, the late-lactation milk was unusual in that the carbohydrate was mainly lactose and its concentration remained relatively high (3.5 to 5.5%). In contrast to earlier findings on the milk of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), little or no nucleotide pyrophosphatase, beta-galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities were detected late in lactation.