>> Colostrum freezes well and can even be microwaved >> without harming those handy little antibodies. > > That is definitely not my understanding. I've been told NOT to microwave > it, > and to warm it carefully by placing in "warm" water. > > Are there any studies available that show microwaving colostrum is okay?
This is from PubMed: Characteristics of frozen colostrum thawed in a microwave oven. Jones LR, Taylor AW, Hines HC. Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Use of a microwave oven to thaw frozen colostrum was evaluated. Colostrum was collected from nine cows, four of which were immunized to produce specific colostral antibodies. Colostrum from each cow was frozen, subsequently thawed, and pooled. One-liter aliquots of the pooled colostrum were frozen and assigned randomly to three thawing treatments. Colostrum was thawed using one of three regimens: 10 min in a microwave oven at full power (650 W), 17 min in a microwave oven at half power (325 W), and 25 min in 45 degrees C water. Colostrum thawed in the microwave oven was slightly coagulated and had lower volume and total protein content than colostrum thawed in water. Casein and pH were not different among treatments. Both concentration and total content of immunoglobulin A were higher in the control than in microwave treatments. Neither amount nor concentration of immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M were different among treatments. Immunological activity, measured by a hemolytic test, was lower for microwave treatments than the control but did not differ between microwave treatments. Frozen colostrum thawed in a microwave oven should provide a reasonable source of colostrum when fresh high quality colostrum is not available. ________________________ Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
