Chemical characterization of milk oligosaccharides of the brown bear, Ursus arctos yesoensis

Two tri-, two hexa- and two deca-saccharides were isolated from bear milk by chloroform/methanol extraction and gel filtration. The oligosaccharides were characterized, mainly by ¹H-NMR, as follows: Gal α 1-3Gal β 1-4Glc (α 3'-galactosyllactose); Fuc α 1-2Gal β 1-4Glc (2'-fucosyllactose); Gal α 1-3Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1-3Gal β 1-4Glc (monofucosylhexasaccharide); Fuc α 1-2Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1-3Gal β 1-4Glc (difucosylhexasaccharide); Gal α 1-3Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1 (6) (Gal β 1-4Glc (difucosyldecasaccharide) Gal α 1-3Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1 (3); Fuc α 1-2Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1 (6) (Gal β 1-4Glc (tetrafucosyldecasaccharide)) (3) Fuc α 1-2Gal β 1-4[Fuc α 1-3]GlcNAc β 1. Both trisaccharides were present in bear milk at a higher concentration than lactose.