190. The effect of commercial sterilization on the nutritive value of milk. VII. Conclusions

Extract

The work carried out by us on the nutritive value of commercially sterilized milk shows definitely that certain factors are injured in the course of the heat treatment. The biological value of the proteins is slightly but unmistakably decreased, most probably because of the partial destruction of one or more essential amino-acids. Of the vitamins, vitamin C is the most markedly affected. It is decreased by half and, in view of the severity of the heat treatment, it is remarkable that the loss is not greater. The anaerobic conditions which exist during the application of the highest sterilizing temperatures may account for the survival of a part of this labile factor. Vitamin B₁ also suffers serious loss, the destruction amounting to 30 % of the original value. Neither vitamin A and carotene nor vitamin B₂ (flavin) are affected by the heat treatment. The fate of other components of milk was not studied by us, but experiments on rats on the effect of sterilization on the total nutritive value of milk indicates that vitamin B₁ was the first limiting factor of sterilized milk.