Given the price differential between goat milk and cow milk, methods to determine goat milk adulteration are important. Chinese researchers developed methodology to determine β-carotene and its metabolites based on various spectroscopic techniques combined with an extraction method using a cold-induced acetonitrile aqueous two-phase separation system in order to weaken the interaction between β-lactoglobulin and β-carotene metabolites. Validation showed that β-carotene is distinctive biomarker in cow milk, and retinol, retinaldehyde, retinoic acid and abscisic acid in goat milk.
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