Evaluation of the changes in human milk lipid composition and conformational state with Raman spectroscopy during a breastfeed | Zendy

Johanna R. de Wolf | Zendy; Anki Lenferink | Zendy; Aufried Lenferink | Zendy; Cees Otto | Zendy; Nienke Bosschaart | Zendy

Open Access

Evaluation of the changes in human milk lipid composition and conformational state with Raman spectroscopy during a breastfeed

Author(s) -

Johanna R. de Wolf,

Anki Lenferink,

Aufried Lenferink,

Cees Otto,

Nienke Bosschaart

Publication year - 2021

Publication title -

biomedical optics express

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362

H-Index - 86

ISSN - 2156-7085

DOI - 10.1364/boe.427646

Subject(s) - raman spectroscopy , composition (language) , chemistry , mammary gland , degree of unsaturation , food science , biochemistry , medicine , chromatography , optics , philosophy , linguistics , physics , cancer , breast cancer

Human milk fat forms the main energy source for breastfed infants, and is highly variable in terms of concentration and composition. Understanding the changes in human milk lipid composition and conformational state during a breastfeed can provide insight into lipid synthesis and secretion in the mammary gland. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate human milk fatty acid length, degree of unsaturation (lipid composition) and lipid phase (lipid conformational state) at different stages during a single breastfeed (fore-, bulk- and hindmilk). A total of 48 samples from 16 lactating subjects were investigated with confocal Raman spectroscopy. We did not observe any significant changes in lipid composition between fore-, bulk and hindmilk. A new finding from this study is that lipid conformational state at room temperature changed significantly during a breastfeed, from almost crystalline to almost liquid. This observation suggests that lipid synthesis in the mammary gland changes during a single breastfeed.

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