Bovine mammary gland milk production

In bovine milk, and indeed in all milks consumed by humans, the overwhelming carbohydrate is lactose. This disaccharide, 4-0-/3-D-galacto-pyranosyl-D-glucopyranose, is a distinctive and unique product of the mammary gland. It has been found in milks of almost all of the species analyzed to date (Jenness et al 1964) and nowhere else in nature except in low concentration in the fruits of some of the Sapotaceae (Reithel and Venkataraman 1956). Lactose is discussed in detail in Chapter 6. 

Bovine mastitis is the single most costly disease affecting the dairy industry. Annual economic losses due to mastitis is approximately 185 per dairy animal. This amounts to approximately 1.7 billion annually for the entire U.S. market or —10% of total milk sales, with about two-thirds of this loss is due to reduced milk production from infected cows [85-87]. Mastitis is a bacterial infection of the mammary gland that causes inflammation and is always a potentially... 

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