Digestive Profiles of Human Milk, Recombinant Human and Bovine Lactoferrin: Comparing the Retained Intact Protein and Peptide Release

Lactoferrin (LF) is a major component of human milk, and LF supplementation supports the immune system and helps maintain iron homeostasis in adults. To determine the extent to which recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLF, Effera™) produced by Komagataella phaffii digests similarly to human milk lactoferrin (hmLF), a validated in vitro digestion protocol was carried out, with bovine LF (bLF) as an additional control. The study compared intact protein retention and peptide release profiles across simulated adult gastric and intestinal digestion using gel electrophoresis, ELISA, and LC-MS. Intact LF retention across digestion was similar across LF types, though the highest iron-saturated hmLF had greater retention in simulated gastric fluid. Peptides identified in digested hmLF strongly correlated with digested rhLF (0.86-0.92 in the gastric phase, 0.63-0.70 in the intestinal phase), whereas digested bLF was significantly different. These findings support the potential for rhLF as a food ingredient for human consumption.