(Revista de Biología Tropical 31(2):245-250, 1983) Akahori, Hiroshi; Hernández Chavarría, Francisco
Lacteous fat globules with their membranes from human milk and calostrum were studied by
scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The first appear as spheroidal structures with some irregularities
on the surface. Under the transmission electron microscope these irregularities are composed of islets
from a material morphologically similar to cytoplasm, and with structures that resemble a fragment of
rugose endoplasmic reticulum. The membranes in specimens fixed immediately after secretion are tri-layered,
similar in appearance to those of a single membrane, but in samples fixed between two and four hours
after secretion the details are unclear. Through freeze-etching, the laminar aspect of the fat globules is
observed.
