Triacylglycerol containing medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA-TAG): The gap between human milk and infant formulas

Abstract

The high concentration of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) in human milk has special benefits for infants. The study compared the characteristic of triacylglycerol containing MCFAs (MCFA-TAG) in human milk and infant formulas with different fat sources including plant oil, cows' milk and goats' milk (POF, CMF and GMF, respectively). Significant differences were observed in both the concentration and composition of the MCFA-TAG. The MCFAs naturally present in human milk were medium-and-long chain triacylglycerols (MLCTs), especially the TAG with one MCFA and two long-chain fatty acids (MLL type), whereas POF contained higher proportions of the TAG with three MCFAs (MMM type) and GMF contained higher proportions of the TAG with two MCFAs and one LCFA (MML type) than that in human milk. The results indicated that deeper research is needed to narrow the gap in MCFA-TAGs between human milk and infant formulas.