A review of milk gangliosides: Occurrence, biosynthesis, identification, and nutritional and functional significance

Gangliosides (GA) are glycosphingolipids containing sialic acid, existing in various sources, such as dairy products, eggs, brains and other tissues. The monosialoganglioside GM3 is the major GA species in mature human milk, while the disialoganglioside GD3 is the most abundant species in bovine milk and human colostrum. Recently, GA have attracted substantial attention due to their positive influences in several biological actions, for instance pathogen binding, neural development and immune system activation. Consequently, this review aimed to summarise the structure, biosynthesis, analysis and identification of these functional biomolecules. Furthermore, the nutritional, functional and therapeutic attributes of GA are highlighted.