Fatty acid composition and lipid nutritional quality of adult and pediatric enteral diets

Abstract

This study evaluates the fatty acid composition and lipid nutritional quality of enteral diets (ED), focusing on patients requiring enteral nutrition (EN). EN is crucial for patients unable to take adequate oral nutrition. The emphasis is on the importance of unsaturated fatty acids, particularly those from the omega-6 (n-6) and omega-3 (n-3) series, present in diets. These fatty acids are associated with health benefits, such as preventing cardiovascular disease and modulating the immune system. Seven adult ED and three pediatric ED were analyzed, using techniques such as gas chromatography to identify the fatty acid profile. Chemometric analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), was employed to explore patterns and similarities between samples. The PCA results indicate that there were similarities and distinctions between the samples studied, especially samples DA6 and DA7. HCA corroborated these observations, identifying four distinct groups. The analysis of lipid nutritional quality indices revealed that some samples meet the recommended proportions of fatty acids, while others present discrepancies, especially in relation to the ∑n-6/∑n-3 and ∑PUFA/∑SFA ratios. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the lipid composition of ED, to ensure adequate nutrition and benefit the health of EN-dependent patients. Understanding these aspects contributes to more informed choices when prescribing enteral diets, optimizing clinical results.