Comparison of whole goat milk and its major fractions regarding the modulation of gut microbiota

Abstract BACKGROUND Goat milk can be important for human nutrition because of its nutritional value, which may be attributed to its richness in protein, lactose, fat, and other bioactive components. This study compared the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in response to whole goat milk and its major fractions (milk fat, casein, milk whey, whey protein, and whey supernatant). Goat milk, its major fractions, and sterile distilled water (for the control group) were administered to mice intragastrically, and gut microbiota were compared in these groups using metagenomic analysis. RESULTS We observed distinct patterns of gut microbiota from different diet groups. The sample distance heatmap showed that, compared with other goat milk fractions, gut microbiota in the casein group was more similar to that in the whole goat‐milk group. The relative abundance of the genus Lactobacillus increased significantly after whole goat‐milk treatment; the milk whey fraction increased the abundance of Blautia ; milk fat and milk whey related fractions treatment promoted the population of Bacteroides . The network analysis showed that genera Lactobacillus and Lactococcus were negatively associated with Helicobacter and Acinetobacter , respectively. CONCLUSION Fractions of goat milk could contain different gut microbiota from whole goat milk. Consumption of certain goat milk fractions could increase the ingestion of beneficial bacteria and inhibit the growth of some pathogenic bacteria. Our results could provide the basis for the research into and development of goat‐milk based functional foods. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.