Abstract
Commercial formula milk (FM) constitutes the best alternative to fulfill the nutritional requirements of infants when breastfeeding is precluded. Here, we present the comparative study of polar metabolite composition of human breast milk (HBM) and seven different brands of FM by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results of the multivariate data analysis exposed qualitative and quantitative differences between HBM and FM composition as well as within FM of various brands and in HBM itself (between individual mothers and lactation period). Several metabolites were found exclusively in HBM and FM. Statistically significant higher levels of isoleucine and methionine in their free form were detected in FM samples based on caprine milk, while FM samples based on bovine milk showed a higher level of glucose and galactose in comparison to HBM. The results suggest that the amelioration of FM formulation is imperative to better mimic the composition of minor nutrients in HBM.
Highlights
Nutrition has a great influence on a child’s growth and development
Tryptophan was not detectable in all Human breast milk (HBM) samples nor almost all of the formula milk (FM) samples based on taurine, tryptophan, valine), nucleotides and derivatives (UDP-galactose, UDP-glucose and uridine), maltose, creatine phosphate and succinate, but have lower levels of acetone, galactose, glucose, N-acetylglucosamine, sucrose, phenylalanine and sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine in comparison to the FM samples based on bovine milk
The scores and loadings plots (Figure 5b,c) clearly show that composition of polar metabolites is different in HBM and FM based on bovine and caprine milk samples
Summary
Nutrition has a great influence on a child’s growth and development. Human breast milk (HBM) is recognized as the gold standard for human infant nutrition since it is a source of a wide range of different valuable components that make it the optimal food for newborns. If breastfeeding is precluded, the introduction of commercial formula milk to a newborn’s diet constitutes the best alternative to fulfill the nutritional requirements of infants In such situations, the composition of infant milk formula can have great consequences for growing offspring. To ensure the maximization of the nutritional and biological value of HBM substitutes and to develop new, improved infant formulas that can better mimic the benefits of HBM, a deep understanding of HBM composition and the differences between the composition of HBM and available infant’s formulas, including minor nutrients, are constantly required. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that compares the metabolite composition of HBM samples collected by Polish women in a wide range of lactation stages (from 4 to 19 months), using formula milk of seven brands, based on two types of milk, dedicated for children at different ages. The study provides insight into the differences between FM and HBM samples at molecular level at various lactation stages, which was not reported earlier
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