Where lactoferrin occurs
Concentrations by source, and what heat treatment does to them.
Lactoferrin concentration varies by more than an order of magnitude between the sources people casually compare. Human colostrum is by far the richest; mature human milk carries substantially less; bovine milk less again. Quoting one figure without saying which source it describes is the most common error in writing on this subject, and it appears constantly.
Processing matters as much as source. Lactoferrin is a protein, and heat denatures proteins. How much survives depends on the treatment: the half hour at 62.5 °C that milk banks apply to donor human milk removes 75 to 87.5 percent of it, while retail pasteurized cow's milk groups with raw milk rather than with UHT in a proteomic comparison. The measured figures for each heat treatment are collected under what pasteurization does to lactoferrin.
This section covers each source with its measured concentration and the method behind the figure. The figures themselves, harmonized to one unit with the assay named on every row, are collected in the reference table on lactoferrin concentration, which also sets out why whey protein isolate has no single number.
This page reports published research. It is general information, not medical advice, and not a recommendation to take anything. Lactoferrin supplements are derived from cow's milk and are unsuitable for anyone with a milk protein allergy. Anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding, treating an infant, or managing a diagnosed condition should speak to a clinician first.