Indoxylsulfate in milk

Indoxylsulfate in 27 individual milk samples ranged from 25.4 to 111 micrograms/l (average 52.3 micrograms/l); pooled milk samples from 12 farms contained 81.1 micrograms/l (46.4-146 micrograms/l); the variation in indoxylsulfate concentration of dried skimmed milk over a period of one year amounted to 23%. This variability is likely attributable to regional and seasonal, and hence to feeding effects. The indoxylsulfate content of milk seems also to be dependent upon the degree of fermentation during processing of milk; yoghurt contained very low amounts of this component (6.4 micrograms/kg). On the other hand, heat treatment of the milk (HTST, UHT, sterilization) apparently does not affect its indoxylsulfate content. Indoxylsulfate concentrations in milk correlated positively with blood-serum indoxylsulfate content (r = 0.752, n = 20) and with the urea content of milk (r = 0.61, n = 12 pooled milks). Further research is suggested on the use of indoxylsulfate determinations as an aid to determine sweet whey added to dried skimmed milk, also as an analytical tool to differentiate bovine and sheep milks.