TRIGLYCERIDES, FATTY-ACIDS, STEROLS, MONOSACCHARIDE AND DISACCHARIDE AND SUGAR ALCOHOLS IN HUMAN-MILK AND CURRENT TYPES OF INFANT FORMULA MILK

Objective: To investigate differences in the fatty acid composition, s terols, minor carbohydrates and sugar alcohols between human and formu la milk. Design: We analyzed the concentrations of triglycerides, ster ols, di- and monosaccharides and sugar alcohols, as well as the fatty acid composition of 10 currently available types of formula milk for t erm babies. Results were compared with mature human milk from 99 exclu sively breast-feeding Dutch women, who collected 24-hour samples in th e second week (n = 99), sixth week (n = 99) and 3 months (n = 25) afte r delivery. Infant formula milk data were considered different if they fell outside the mean +/- 2s.d. range of corresponding human milk dat a. Results: The triglyceride concentrations in human milk were lower t han those of the formula milk, possibly due to an incomplete collectio n of fat-rich hindmilk. Formula milks tended towards a higher proporti on of medium chain fatty acids and lower proportions of longer-chain p olyunsaturated fatty acids. Formulas had cholesterol concentrations 3- 35 times lower, and much higher phytosterol concentrations, compared w ith the human milk. In the formula milk types the glucose, sorbitol an d myoinositol concentrations were generally lower, whereas the fucose and erythreitol concentrations were in the lower mean +/- 2s.d. human milk range. The galactose concentrations in the formulas were generall y higher. Conclusions: Formula milk and human milk differ considerably in fatty acid composition and concentrations of cholesterol, phytoste rols, monosaccharides and sugar alcohols. The biological consequences of these differences in composition are uncertain.