Determination of Positional Fatty Acid and Triacylglycerol Compositions of Selected Infant Formulas

Abstract

Infant formula is one of the main nutritional sources for infants. In this study, the fatty acid compositions of Korean (domestic, n=8) and foreign infant formulas (n=3) were analyzed. Crude fats were extracted using the Folch method, and fatty acid compositions (total and positional) were analyzed by gas chromatography. In the fatty acid compositions of infant formulas, oleic (19.88～44.64%), palmitic (7.59～21.65%) and linoleic acids (16.72～25.87%) were the major fatty acids. Domestic infant formula products contained 35.94～56.55% total saturated fatty acid content, whereas that of foreign infant formula ranged from 34.40～42.88%. The content of monounsaturated fatty acids ranged from 20.23～44.99% in domestic products and 34.11～45.07% in foreign products. In addition, 0.17～2.57% arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid and 10～13% linoleic acid/linolenic acid were detected in the analyzed products (domestic and foreign products). A small amount of trans fatty acids (0.25～1.69%) were found. In sn-2 position analysis, palmitic acids (1.84～38.74%) were detected in the analyzed formulas. Further, typical triacylglycerols in human milk, including 1,3-di-monounsaturated-2-saturated triacylglycerol, were not detected in the analyzed formulas.

Efficient Separation and Analysis of Triacylglycerols: Quantitation of β-Palmitate (OPO) in Oils and Infant Formulas

“…9 Despite the efforts of manufacturing companies to include OPO in their formulas, Kurvinen et al 10 have found in a now-dated study analyzing 32 commercially available infant formulas that only 4 of the milk formulas contained more OPO than OOP, and only 3 of these had an OPO/OOP ratio close to that of human milk. Interestingly, although the 1,3-dimonounsaturated-2-saturated pattern (to which OPO belongs) is typical for human milk, no TGs matching this description were found in 11 infant formulas studied by Son et al 11 To quantitate TGs in a regiospecific manner, one or more of a number of techniques may be used, each with its own advantages and limitations. These include methods employing a chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis step, NMR spectroscopic approaches, and chromatography−mass spectrometry techniques.…”

“…Despite the efforts of manufacturing companies to include OPO in their formulas, Kurvinen et al have found in a now-dated study analyzing 32 commercially available infant formulas that only 4 of the milk formulas contained more OPO than OOP, and only 3 of these had an OPO/OOP ratio close to that of human milk. Interestingly, although the 1,3-dimonounsaturated-2-saturated pattern (to which OPO belongs) is typical for human milk, no TGs matching this description were found in 11 infant formulas studied by Son et al …”