13C NMR spectra of TAG:: An easy way to distinguish milks from different animal species

In order to differentiate milks from different species, we carried out a comparative analysis of TAG from cow, buffalo, goat, and sheep milk fat based on C-13 NMR experiments. NMR spectroscopy, although less sensitive than other techniques, does not require an extensive chemical manipulation of samples and can easily highlight the differences in the content of short-chain acyl groups in the four milk species. The resonances were assigned and quantified, and by using only three NMR parameters in data clustering with fuzzy logic analysis, we were able to distinguish goats milk from sheep's milk, and both of these milks from cows and buffaloes milks. This appears to be an important result, considering the ease and rapidity with which milk identification can be obtained. From C-13 NMR spectra of TAG, the positional distribution of FA chains on the glycerol backbone can also be easily evaluated. In particular, analysis of the positional distribution of mono-unsaturated FA revealed that it may be species-specific, and we are currently analyzing larger data sets in order to evaluate the use of this parameter as a suitable approach to address the issue of milk authenticity.