Received: 25-05-2012 / Accepted: 21-08-2012
Human milk is considered as the best form of nutrition for the first few months of human life. The part that contributes to the important function of human milk contains oligosaccharides which are not found in infant formulas. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant molecular species in human milk after lactose and fat and its amount approximates15 g/L. To date, about 200HMOs have been purified and theirstructures have been determined. Basic core structure of HMOs is lactose at the reducing end elongated by fucose, N-acetylglucosamine and sialic acid. HMOs are considered to be one of the most important growth factors for intestinal bifidobacteria, beneficial bacteria dominated in gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants, andpotential inhibitors of adhesion of pathogenic bacteria to epithelial surfaces. For this reason, there is a continuous interest in finding structures as well as synthesis of HMOs by enzymatic method that can be applied for infant foods and drugs. This review focuses on structure and functions of HMOs, and enzymatic synthesis of some well known HMOs.