Abstract
A two‐step chemometric procedure was developed on the attenuated total reflection‐Fourier transform infrared data of human breastmilk to detect adulteration by water or cow milk. The samples, collected from a Milk Bank, were analyzed before and after adulteration with whole, skimmed, semi‐skimmed cow milk and water. A preliminary clustering via principal component analysis distinguished three classes: pure milk, milk adulterated with water, and milk adulterated with cow milk. A first partial least square‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) classification model was built and then applied on new samples to identify the specific adulterants. The external validation on this model reached 100% of the correct identification of pure milk and 90% of the type of adulterants. In the following step, four PLS calibration models were built to quantify the amount of the adulterant detected in the classification analysis. The prediction performance of these models on new samples showed satisfactory parameters with root mean square error of prediction and percentage relative error lower than 1.38% and 3.31%, respectively.
Highlights
Human breastmilk (BM) is the first complete food at birth and considered the natural food par excellence for every newborn: healthy, species‐specific, preventive against allergies, intolerances, and diseases (Georgi, Bartke, Wiens, & Stahl, 2013)
Classification and assessment of adulteration involved the use of various partial least square regression (PLS) models: a first PLS2 discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) model designed to detect the possible addition of water or different types of cow milk and subsequent four PLS1 calibration models able of determining the amount of added adulterant
Cow milk contains more casein than human milk, in a ratio of 80:20, whereas in human milk this ratio is 40:60
Summary
Human breastmilk (BM) is the first complete food at birth and considered the natural food par excellence for every newborn: healthy, species‐specific, preventive against allergies, intolerances, and diseases (Georgi, Bartke, Wiens, & Stahl, 2013). The helpful properties of these bioactive molecules are based on their antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects, immunostimulatory properties, and bactericidal or bacteriostatic actions on different microorganisms (Goldman & Goldblum, 1995). These defense properties of human BM are suitable for infants of reduced weight and/or preterm infants and in other pathological cases of the newborn. The infant may not be able to consume milk directly from the mother's breast In these cases, the previously collected and stored BM should be used (Miranda et al, 2004).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
