Thermal inactivation, at temperatures between 60 o C and 140 o C, of native plasmin, plasminogen and plasminogen activators were studied in bovine milk using improved enzymatic assays. While measured heat inactivation kinetic of plasmin and plasminogen were in line with previously reported values, plasminogen activators were, surprisingly, found to be as heat sensitive as plasmin and plasminogen in a milk system containing proteins with free SH groups. Activation energies (Ea) for the heat denaturation of plasmin, plasminogen and plasminogen activators were 29, 35 and 24 kJ. mol-1 , respectively, in the temperature range 95-140 o C , and 244, 230 and 241 kJ. mol-1 , respectively, in the temperature range 70-90 o C. The heat inactivation of the whole plasmin system in milk appeared to be directly influenced by the presence of β-lactoglobulin. The rate of plasmin inactivation during long heat treatments decreased rapidly, probably because of the disappearance of available β-lactoglobulin for S-S linking. plasmin / plasminogen / plasminogen activator / heat inactivation / milk