[Analysis of gangliosides with special reference to milk]

Gangliosides are sialic acid containing lipid compounds of a very complex nature, which are involved in many physiological processes. Gangliosides are very important constituents of membrane material in animal tissue, where they occur at very low concentrations. Improved analytical procedures are therefore required to study their behaviour, their role in living systems and their isolation for further investigations. In this paper, all analytical methods which may be important in the analysis of gangliosides are summarized and discussed. These include extraction, purification, enrichment and chromatographic procedures. In bovine milk, three gangliosides of known structure are present. Their isolation, structure and analytical importance (buttermilk) are also reported.