Demonstration of antibodies against bovine leukemia virus (BLV) by blocking ELISA using bovine polyclonal anti-BLV immunoglobulin.

A blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies against bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is described. The test is based on the biotin-streptavidin system using unlabelled polyclonal bovine IgG against BLV as catching antibody and biotinylated bovine anti-BLV IgG as detecting antibody. The sensitivity was found to be 50-100 times higher than the agar gel immunodiffusion test, with a specificity of practically 100%. The blocking ELISA proved to be suitable for detection of antibodies against BLV in serum and milk. In 34 paired milk/serum samples, the average ratio of BLV antibody titres was 1:26. So far, more than 700,000 sera have been screened by blocking ELISA for BLV antibodies in the course of the Danish surveillance programme for BLV infection.     

Stability of whey-protein-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions during chilled storage and temperature cycling

The stability of heat-treated and/or acidified, partly-crystalline-fat-based, whey-protein-stabilized oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions against partial coalescence was investigated during chilled storage (at 5 degrees C) and repeated temperature cycling (three times between 5 and 25 degrees C). Experiments focused on the evolution of firmness and droplet size (using pulsed field gradient NMR and scanning electron microscopy). Besides the effects of denaturation and/or acidification, the influence of the droplet size of the dispersed phase on emulsion stability was investigated also. It was found that heat treatment or acidification before emulsification led to unstable emulsions during temperature cycling, whereas heat treatment after acidification resulted in stable emulsions.