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Indian Pediatr 2013;50: 1044- 1046 |
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Fatty Acid Composition of Breastmilk of
Israeli Mothers
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Oshra Saphier, Jeanine Blumenfeld, *Tali Silberstein,
*Tamar Tzor and Ariela Burg
From the Department of Chemical Engineering, Sami
Shamoon College of Engineering; and*Department of Gynecology and
Obstetrics, Soroka University Hospital, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev; Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Correspondence to: Dr Oshra Saphier, Department of
Chemical Engineering, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering,
Beer-Sheva,
Israel.
Email: [email protected]
Received: November 05, 2012;
Initial review: December 03, 2012;
Accepted: April 26, 2013.
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We conducted this study to
determine the fatty acid composition of breastmilk of Israeli women
and compare it with baby milk substitutes. Samples of mature breast
milk, from 29 lactating Israeli Jewish mothers were collected during
feedings. Total milk lipids extracts were transmethylated and
analyzed by using an improved gas-chromatographic method. About 72%
of the total fatty acids in the investigated breast milk comprised
oleic (18:1c; 31±4%), palmitic (16:0; 21±4%), and linoleic (18:2n-6;
20±4%) acids. Total saturated fatty acids represented 42±7% of total
fatty acids. The monounsaturated fatty acids content was 33±5%, of
which 94% was oleic acid, and the polyunsaturated fatty acids
content was about 24±4%, of which 85% was linoleic acid. The
a-linolenic
acid level found in this study, 2.0±0.6%, was higher than the range
of values reported for the world population (0.10-1.4%). The main
fatty acids composition of the milk substitutes has very similar
composition to the breast milk. Docosahexaenoic acid levels are
particularly low among the population of Jewish nursing mothers in
relation to the milk substitutes, containing docosahexaenoic acid in
their formulations.
Key words: Breastmilk, polyunsaturated
fatty acids, Jewish.
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The presence of long chain polyunsaturated fatty
acids (LC-PUFAs) during early life is thought to be vital to nervous
system growth and maturation, and as such, great emphasis has been
placed on the LC-PUFAs content of breast milk [1,2]. The breast milk
fats present in maternal milk vary widely throughout the world according
to both maternal dietary habits and environmental background [3]. The
amount of docosahexanoeic acid (DHA) present in breast milk varies
considerably and is dependent largely on maternal diet. Research has
shown that breast milk concentrations of DHA typically comprise between
0.1 and 1.0% of the total FAs content, with the differences depending on
the maternal intake of marine food sources [4,5].
There is little information about the distribution of
fatty acids in breast milk of Israeli women [6]. Therefore, this study
analyzed the fatty acid composition of the mature breast milk of Israeli
Jewish woman. In addition, because a large portion of Israeli infants
are fed using infant formulas, we also compared the composition of
breast milk to that of infant formulas commonly used in Israel.
Methods
This study involved 29 lactating healthy Israeli
Jewish mothers (8-12 weeks post-partum) from the south of Israel whose
full term infants (born at 37-41 weeks gestation) were fed exclusively
with breastmilk. All women were consuming self-selected diets. All study
procedures were approved by the institutional ethics committee of
Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Soroka Medical Center, and informed
consent was obtained from all participants.
Samples (60–100 mL) of mature breast milk were
collected from all the women during feedings at approximately the
midpoint (after three minutes) of each feeding, by manual extraction.
Time of collection was between 12:00 to 15:00. Milk samples were
collected during the year 2008 and immediately frozen at -80°C. The
mothers were interviewed by a medical doctor about their dietary habits
in general.
The lipid profile of the breast milk was analyzed
using a procedure previously described in the literature [7]. Lipid
composition of baby milk powders was taken from the packaging, according
to the manufacturer’s report from two infant formulas of two different
companies (A and B; "d" stands for dairy and "s" stands for soy milk)
that are popular in Israel. Formula "A" has added long-chain fatty acids
DHA and ARA.
Statistical analysis. All data were analyzed
using the statistical data analysis package included with Microsoft
Excel 97. Correlations between the percentage (w/w) of each FA, total
trans FAs, and groups of similar FAs were examined using Pearson
correlation coefficients. Relations were considered significant at P<0.05.
Results
The amount of linoleic (18:2n6),
a-linolenic (18:3n3),
arachidonic (20:4n6), and docosahexaenoic (22:6n3) acids and the sums of
FAs groups (Web Table 1) did not show significant
correlations with each other, except for the correlation between n-3 and
n-6 LC-PUFAs. Table I shows the main FAs content of the
breast milk.
TABLE I Essential Fatty Acid Composition Of Breast Milk Of Jewish Mother And Commercial Baby Milk Formula
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% by weight
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Infant formula |
Infant formula |
Infant formula |
Infant formula |
Breast milk
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of total fats
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A dairy |
A soy bean*
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B dairy |
B soy bean* |
Mean (SD) |
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Saturated fats |
55% |
45% |
64% |
32% |
43 (7%) |
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Unsaturated fats |
46% |
54% |
36% |
67% |
57 (7%) |
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Linoleic acid (18:2n6) |
19% |
16% |
18% |
18% |
20 (4%) |
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a-Linolenic acid (18:3n3) |
2.0% |
1.4% |
1.9% |
– |
2.0 (0.6%) |
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ARA (20:4n6) |
0.43% |
0.52% |
– |
– |
0.44 (0.17%) |
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DHA (22:6n3) |
0.41% |
0.49% |
– |
– |
0.17 (0.11%) |
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Vegan milk; ARA: Arachidonic acid; DHA:
Docosahexamic acid. |
About 72% of the total FA in the investigated breast
milk comprised oleic (18:1c; 31 ± 4%), palmitic (16:0; 21 ± 4%), and
linoleic (18:2n-6; 20 ± 4%) acids. Total SFA represented 42 ± 7% of
total fatty acids, of which about half was palmitic acid. The MUFAs
content was 33 ± 5%, of which 94% was oleic acid, and the PUFAs content
was about 24 ± 4%, of which 85% was linoleic acid. The mean total
trans FAs concentration was 0.39 ± 0.13%.
Discussion
Saturated fatty acids found in mature human breast
milk in our study were very close to the results of several others
recent studies [2,8,9] Lactating women from Asian countries and Saudi
Arabia showed higher SFAs contents (52-66%) [10,11], whereas Chinese
[10,12], Canadian [8], Brazilian [13], European [1], and Turkish [3]
lactating women showed similar values to those found in our study
(38-45%). Percentages of medium chain saturated fatty acids (MC-SFAs,
C8:0–C14:0) found in the milk of Israeli women were within the range of
values found for other populations [3, 11-14]. The MUFAs content of the
milk in our study was also consistent with those obtained in previous
studies [18-20].
Trans fatty acids comprised a relatively low
proportion (0.40% ± 0.13) of the fatty acid content of Israeli women’s
breast milk compared to most other populations around the world. The low
trans FAs values found in this study are difficult to explain.
The total PUFAs of mature breast milk in this study was higher than
those found for the North American (10-17%) and European (9-14%)
populations [1,15] and similar to those of Turkish lactating women (27%
PUFAs and 24% C18:2n-6). The similar findings are probably due to the
consumption of similar plant oils. The
a-linolenic acid
level found in the milk of Israeli Jewish women in this study was higher
than the range of values reported for the world population (0.10-1.4%)
[3,9-11,15-17]. We found a significant correlation (r=0.7, P<0.05)
between n-6 and n-3 LC-PUFAs in the human milk in this study (Fig.
1). It was suggested that this finding may be explained by a mutual
pathway for LC-PUFAs synthesis and secretion in milk, which is shared by
both the n-6 and the n-3 fatty acids, [3]. This pathway may protect the
infant by providing a relatively constant n-6/n-3 ratio in infant diets
that carries over into the tissues [3].
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Fig 1. Correlation of LC-PUFAs content
of the n-3 and the n-6 (LC-PUFAs) series in human milk lipids
from Israeli mothers.
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DHA levels are particularly low among the population
of Jewish mothers in relation to the milk substitutes containing DHA in
their formulations. 20% of nursing women’s milk contained DHA below the
limit of measurement. Israeli women’s diet is based mainly on dairy
products, carbohydrates, poultry and vegetables, and poor in fish from
deep-water sources. Thus, it is unlikely to provide sufficient DHA to
support optimal postnatal neuro-visual development. It is possible that
high levels of a-linolenic
acid (18:3n3) often compensate for the lack on DHA.
Acknowledgment: College of Engineering, SCE.
Contributors: All the authors have
contributed, reviewed and approved the manuscript.
Funding: None; Competing interests: None
stated.
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