Abstract
Summary: Adherence of medium‐chain triglyceride (MCT) oil to feeding tubes during gavage feeding of Enfamil formula was quantitated. Infants were fed similar volumes of either unfortified formula (n = 11) or MCT oil‐fortified formula (0.5 ml/oz); either the MCT oil was mixed with the formula before feeding (n = 11) or the MCT oil was delivered into the feeding tube and then was followed by formula (n = 11). The fat residue in the feeding sets was quantitated by gravimetry, and individual fatty acids were characterized by gas‐liquid chromatography. The data show that only trace amounts of lipid (0.23 ± 0.04%) adhered to feeding sets during feeding of unfortified formula. Significantly more lipid (p < 0.0005) adhered when formula was fortified with MCT oil, and the method of feeding greatly affected lipid adherence, i.e., 1.52 ± 0.21% when the MCT oil was followed by formula versus 10.20 ± 1.76% when the MCT oil was mixed with formula before feeding. Analysis of the fat residue of fortified formula showed that >90% was composed of C8:0 and C10:0, the major fatty acid components of MCT oil. We suggest that care be exercised when fortifying infant formula with MCT oil.
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