Interaction of fatty acids with beta-lactoglobulin and albumin from ruminant milk.

beta-Lactoglobulin isolated from milk of cow, sheep, and goat had about 0.5 mol of fatty acids bound per mol of monomer protein. Fatty acids, mainly palmitic and oleic acids, were the major components (about 75% of total lipids). Albumin isolated from the same samples had about 4.5 mol of fatty acids bound per mol of protein. These two proteins were the only whey proteins able to bind labeled fatty acids in vitro. Interaction of beta-lactoglobulin and albumin with insolubilized fatty acids showed some differences, suggesting different structures of the respective fatty acid binding sites.