Kasper Hettinga

Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Department of Food Sciences and Agrotechnology

Milk is the single source of nutrients for the newborn mammal. The composition of milk of different mammals has been adapted during evolution of the species to fulfill the needs of the offspring. Milk not only provides nutrients, but it also serves as a medium for transfer of host defense components to the offspring. The host defense proteins in th...

Heat treatment is the most common way of milk processing, inducing structural changes as well as chemical modifications in milk proteins. These modifications influence the immune-reactivity and allergenicity of milk proteins. This study shows the influence of dry heating on the solubility, particle size, loss of accessible thiol and amino groups, d...

Background: Breastfeeding has been linked to a reduction in the prevalence of allergy and asthma. However, studies on this relationship vary in outcome, which may partly be related to differences in breast milk composition. In particular breast milk composition may differ between allergic and non-allergic mothers. Important components that may be...

During secretion of milk fat globules, triacylglycerol (TAG) droplets are enveloped by a phospholipid (PL) trilayer. Globule size has been found to be related to polar lipid composition and fat content, and milk fat content and fatty acid composition have been associated with the diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) K232A polymorphism; however,...

Citation: van Boven, F.E.; Arends, N.J.T.; Sprikkelman, A.B.; Emons, J.A.M.; Hendriks, A.I.; van Splunter, M.; Schreurs, M.W.J.; Terlouw, S.; Gerth van Wijk, R.; Wichers, H.J.; et al. Abstract: Accelerating the induction of tolerance to cow's milk (CM) reduces the burden of cow's milk allergy (CMA). In this randomised controlled intervention study,...

The destabilization of UHT milk during its shelf life can be promoted by the residual proteolytic activity attributed to the protease AprX from Pseudomonas. To better understand the hydrolysis patterns of AprX, and to evaluate the feasibility of using low-temperature inactivation (LTI) for AprX, the release of peptides through AprX activity on milk...

This study aims to characterize the microbiota and peptidomic composition of raw milk kefir, and to address the potential anti-allergic effects of raw milk kefir using validated research models for food allergy. Raw milk kefir was produced after incubation with a defined freeze-dried starter culture. Kefir was sampled during fermentation at seven t...

Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2022, 66, 202200196 DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.202200196 d‐lactate is widly contained in many fermented foods (e.g., yogurt, sauerkraut and cheeses). In article number 2200196, Yongheng Yan, Haitao Li, and co‐workers demonstrate that dietary d‐Lactate intake facilitates inflammatory resolution by modulating M1 macrophage polarization th...

This study aims to characterize the microbial and peptidomic composition of raw milk kefir, and to address the allergic symptoms of raw milk kefir in a murine model for food allergy. Raw milk kefir was produced after incubation with a defined freeze-dried starter culture. Kefir was sampled during fermentation at seven-time intervals. For comparison...

Scope: Given the D-lactate dehydrogenase (D-LDH) deficiency, L- but not D-lactate is assumed to be the physiological isomer in mammals. Paradoxically, many fermented foods (e.g., yogurt, sauerkraut, cheeses) often contain substantial amounts of D-lactate. In the present study, we hypothesized that dietary D-lactate may be a previously unrecognized...

Background The human milk proteome comprises a vast number of proteins with immunomodulatory functions, but it is not clear how this relates to allergy of the mother or allergy development in the breastfed infant. This study aimed to explore the relation between the human milk proteome and allergy of both mother and child. Methods Proteins were an...

Absract Dry heating of plant proteins occurs during production of plant-based infant formula. To study the effect of dry heating on physicochemical changes and in vitro infant digestion of soy and pea proteins, these proteins were mild dry heated (60 °C) for 6 h and 48 h, in the presence or absence of glucose. In this study, we found that with exte...

The objective of this research was to analyse the effects of heating on digestion of skimmed goat milk proteins. Most previous goat milk digestion studies evaluated the digestion only based on the supernatant. In this study, digestion of skimmed goat milk was studied in both supernatant and gastric clot. The results indicated that, compared to mild...

Human milk and commercial dairy products play a vital role in humans, as they can provide almost all essential nutrients and immune‐active components for the development of children. However, how to retain more native immune‐active components of milk during processing remains a big question for the dairy industry. Nonthermal technologies for milk p...

The effectiveness of microfiltration (MF), alone or combined with high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurisation, ultraviolet-C (UV-C), and ultrasonication (US) in improving the microbial and nutritional quality of skim milk was evaluated in comparison with commercial ultra-pasteurisation (UP). Compared with untreated skim milk, MF combined with...

The consumption of animal proteins in general, and dairy proteins in particular, is associated with sustainability and animal welfare issues. Recombinant synthesis of milk proteins is therefore receiving increasing interest, with several studies showing synthesis of milk proteins using a wide range of expression systems. Achieving a high yield and...

Both whey protein denaturation and β-casein inclusion increased intact protein loss without affecting absorbable product release during in vitro digestion.

The postprandial plasma essential amino acid (AA) peak concentrations of infant formula (IF) are higher than those of human milk (HM) in infants. In addition, several HM proteins have been recovered intact in infant stool and appeared digestion resistant in vitro. We, therefore, hypothesized that gastrointestinal protein hydrolysis of IF is faster...

Diabetes is a serious public health problem with global implications. Among many diabetes management therapies, non-pharmacological therapies such as those that focus on diet and exercise are gradually becoming more acceptable to patients. Within dietary management options, dairy products such as camel and goat milk are valued for their specific he...

Milk samples were collected in early lactation (8 to 14 days in milk; DIM) and late lactation (199 to 326 DIM) from 11 cows to assess the differences in bovine milk fatty acid (FA) and triacylglycerol (TAG) composition, FA positional distribution in the TAG structure, and milk solid fat content (SFC). Cows in early lactation that were in negative e...

Holder pasteurization (HoP) is the current recommended treatment for donor human milk. Although this method inactivates microbial contaminants, it also negatively affects various milk components. High-pressure processing (HPP, 400, 500, and 600 MPa), ultraviolet-C irradiation (UV-C, 2,430, 3,645, and 4,863 J/L) and thermoultrasonication (TUS, 1,080...

Objective: To compare the nutritional composition of bovine milk and several plant-based drinks with a focus on protein and essential amino acid content and to determine the ratio of essential amino acids to greenhouse gas emission. Design: Nutritional information on the label was extracted for semi-skimmed milk, soy, oat, almond, coconut and ri...

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of fat and protein supplementation to dairy cattle rations on milk fat triacylglycerol (TAG) composition, fatty acid (FA) positional distribution in the TAG structure, and milk solid fat content (SFC). Fifty-six lactating Holstein-Friesian cows were blocked into 14 groups of 4 cows and randomly assign...

Human milk is a dynamic biofluid, and its detailed composition receives increasing attention. While most studies focus on changes over time or differences between maternal characteristics, interindividual variation receives little attention. Nevertheless, a comprehensive insight into this can help interpret human milk studies and help human milk ba...

Processing of milk involves heating, which can modify the structure and digestibility of its proteins. In vitro models are useful for studying protein digestion. However, validating these models with in vivo data is challenging. Here, we non-invasively monitor in vitro gastric milk protein digestion by protein-water chemical exchange detected by ¹H...

The introduction of baked milk products in cow’s milk (CM) allergic children has previously been shown to accelerate induction tolerance in a selected group of children. However, there is no standardized baked milk product on the market. Recently, a new standardized, heated and glycated cow’s milk protein (HP) product was developed. The aim of this...

Donor human milk is the first alternative for preterm infants when mother's own milk is not available. Most available human milk banking guidelines recommend classical holder pasteurization to ensure safety by eliminating potential infectious microorganisms. Processing by heat treatment, however, negatively affects functionality and availability of...

Donor human milk is generally processed by holder pasteurization (HoP) at 62. 5 • C for 30 min. This temperature-time combination is sufficient for eliminating pathogens in donor milk, but also negatively affects several bioactive milk components. Long heating up times may further affect the bioactive properties of pasteurized milk. High-Temperatur...

Milk contains all nutrients needed for development of calves. One important group of components responsible for this are the milk proteins. Variation due to feed or animal health, has been studied for the most abundant milk proteins. The aim of this study was to determine the variation between and within cows for their milk serum proteome. Sample S...

Soy protein is the main protein source for plant-based infant formula, whereas pea protein is considered as a potential alternative plant protein source. This study assessed the structural changes of soy and pea proteins after heating between 65°C and 100°C, and its effects on the in vitro digestibility in the context of infant digestion. We found...

Holder pasteurization is the current recommended method for donor human milk treatment. This method effectively eliminates most life-threatening contaminants in donor milk, but it also greatly reduces some of its biological properties. Consequently, there is a growing interest for developing novel processing methods that can ensure both microbial i...

Background & aims Donor human milk (DHM) is recommended as the first alternative for preterm infants if their mother’s own milk is not available or if the quantity is not sufficient. The most commonly used technique to eliminate microbial contaminants in DHM is holder pasteurization (HoP). However, the heating process during HoP partially destroys...

Background Provision of donor human milk is handled by established human milk banks that implement all required measures to ensure its safety and quality. Detailed human milk banking guidelines on a European level are currently lacking, while the information available on the actual practices followed by the European human milk banks, remains limite...

For the determination of the binding of heated cow’s milk whey proteins such as β-lactoglobulin to the receptors expressed on immune cells, inhibition ELISA with the soluble form of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) and scavenger receptor class B (CD36) has been successfully used in the past. However, binding to heated and gl...

To extend the shelf life and retain bioactive proteins in milk, this study utilized microfiltration (MF) combined with ultrasonication to treat skim milk and investigated its efficiency in removing bacteria and retaining bioactive proteins compared with HTST pasteurization and microfiltration alone. Results showed that microfiltration combined with...

Improvement in the knowledge level of dairy farmers and the performance of on-farm safety and hygiene practices in emerging dairy chains is repeatedly recommended. However, appropriate training interventions to help farmers is not yet fully explored. Behaviour change theories to design training to improve knowledge and explore drivers of safety and...

Ultrasonication, like common shear homogenization, can reduce the milk fat globule size and may change the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). This work compared the effect of ultrasonication to equivalent shear homogenization on MFGM proteins and lipid-derived volatile components. Results showed that treating milk with ultrasound at 35 kJ/L would re...

Background: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many put their hopes in the rapid availability of effective immunizations. Human milk, containing antibodies against syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may serve as means of protection through passive immunization. We aimed to determine the presence and pseudovirus neutraliza...

Background & Aims Low micronutrient levels in critical illness have been reported in multiple studies. Because of the antioxidant properties of various micronutrients, micronutrient deficiency may augment oxidative stress in critical illness. However, it remains unclear whether micronutrient concentrations in ICU patients are different from those i...

Infants are vulnerable consumers and highly depend on dietary proteins for growth and development during their first months of life. Infant formula (IF) and follow-on formula (FOF) have been developed to meet these requirements, although few protein sources are currently allowed to be used. At the same time, allergies to these available protein sou...

Scope: β-lactoglobulin (BLG) is a major cow milk allergen encountered by the immune system of infants fed with milk-based formulas. To determine the effect of processing on immunogenicity of BLG, we characterised how heated and glycated BLG are recognised and internalised by APCs. Also, the effect of heat-induced structural changes as well as gast...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of microfiltration (MF) of skim milk, alone or combined with ultraviolet-C (UVC) treatment, in extending the shelf life and retaining the native bioactive milk serum proteins, compared with high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization. The vegetative bacterial load was reduced by ∼3...

Allergen recognition and processing by antigen presenting cells is essential for the sensitization step of food allergy. Macrophages and dendritic cells are both phagocytic antigen presenting cells and play important roles in innate immune responses and signaling between the innate and adaptive immune system. To obtain a model system with a homogen...

Rapid measurements are valuable in food authentication. As a first step towards application of sound for fast food authentication, the influence of fat content and dilution of liquid milk/cream products on their ultrasound characteristics was examined. A total of 18 liquid dairy products, ranging in fat content from 0 to 60 g/100 g product, includi...

Immune-globulin E (IgE)-mediated food allergy is characterized by a variety of clinical entities within the gastrointestinal tract, skin and lungs, and systemically as anaphylaxis. The default response to food antigens, which is antigen specific immune tolerance, requires exposure to the antigen and is already initiated during pregnancy. After birt...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of applying a 4-week instead of an 8-week dry period to dairy cows on the proteome of colostrum (first sample) and of transition milk (the fifth postpartum milk sample). Individual milk serum samples of colostrum and transition milk were analysed from 12 Swedish Holstein (SH) and 12 Swedish Red (S...

Milk serum contains many immune-active proteins that are sensitive to heat treatment. This study compared the effects of thermal (63 • C, 30 min; 72 • C, 15 s; 85 • C, 5 min) and non-thermal (ultraviolet-C, UV-C; thermo-ultrasonication, TUS) treatments on bovine milk serum proteins by using label-free LC-MS/MS-based proteomics. UV-C (4500 J/L) and...

This study provided insights into the degradation of human milk proteins in an in vitro infant digestion model by comparing colostrum (week 1) and mature milk (week 4) of 7 Chinese mothers individually. In this study, we adapted the exiting INFOGEST in vitro model, to conditions representative to infants (0 to 3 month-old). The level of undigested...

To establish the effect of the presence of milk serum proteins on heat-induced changes to lactoferrin, lactoferrin alone, and lactoferrin mixed with either milk serum or β-lactoglobulin was heated at 65 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C for 30 min. After heating, the effect of milk serum proteins on aggregation of lactoferrin was characterized, after which the e...

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many put their hopes in the rapid development of effective immunizations. For now patient isolation, physical distancing and good hygiene are the sole measures for prevention. Processed breast milk with antibodies against SaRS-CoV-2 may serve as additional protection. We aimed to determine the presence an...

Dry heating of cow’s milk protein, as applied in the production of “baked milk”, facilitates the resolution of cow’s milk allergy symptoms upon digestion. The heating and glycation-induced changes of the protein structure can affect both digestibility and immunoreactivity. The immunological consequences may be due to changes in the peptide profile...

Although an impact of processing on immunogenicity of food proteins has clearly been demonstrated, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. We applied 3 different processing methods: wet heating (60 °C) and low- or high-temperature (50 °C or 130 °C, respectively) dry-heating in absence or presence of reducing sugars, to β-lactoglobulin (BLG), l...

In this study, the effect of milk freezing was studied, focusing on the changes in 1% and 3% fat UHT hydrolyzed-lactose milk after slow- (−20°C) and fast-rate freezing (−80°C) for 72 h. Changes on the sensory properties were first assessed by discriminant analysis (triangle test), and then by volatile organic compounds and color analysis. The milk...

This study investigated the changes and lactose glycosylation of milk serum proteins under simulated industrial processing conditions, including raw milk (R), holder pasteurization (L), high temperature short time pasteurization (H), extended shelf life (E), ultra-high temperature sterilization (U) and spray-drying (S). Through label-free proteomic...

Impact of processing on immunogenicity of food proteins has clearly been demonstrated, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In our previous study, the uptake of the cow’s milk protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG) by THP-1 macrophages varied after applying different processing methods and was positively correlated with hydrophobicity and aggreg...

The varying performance of safety and hygiene control practices by chain actors can influence the consistent production of milk of good quality and safety in dairy chains. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate if differences in safety and hygiene control practices translate into distinctions in milk quality and safety at the farm, and to analys...

Milk is regarded as one of the top food products susceptible to adulteration where its valuable components are specifically identified as high-risk indicators for milk fraud. The current study explores the impact of common milk adulterants on the apparent compositional parameters of milk from the Dutch market as measured by standardized Fourier tra...

Intake of dietary advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is associated with inflammation-related health problems. Nε-carboxymethyl lysine (CML) is one of the best characterised AGEs in processed food. AGEs have been described as ligands for receptors present on antigen presenting cells. However, changes in protein secondary and tertiary structure a...

The allergy-protective capacity of raw cow's milk was demonstrated to be abolished after heat treatment. The heat-sensitive whey protein fraction of raw milk is often implied to be the source of this allergy-protective effect, but a direct link between these proteins and the protection against allergic diseases is missing. This study therefore aime...

To study the Chinese human milk N-glycome over lactation, N-glycans were released and separated from serum proteins, purified by solid phase extraction, and analysed by MALDI-TOF-MS. In total, 66 different putative N-glycans were found in colostrum (week 1) and mature milk (week 4) of 7 Chinese mothers. A clear difference was observed between milk...

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of ultra-high-temperature (UHT) processed milk samples suspected of being adulterated on the Chinese market and, subsequently, relate their geographical origin to the earlier determined fraud vulnerability. A total of 52 UHT milk samples purchased from the Chinese market were measured to detect possible ano...