Fatty Acid Concentration and Distribution in Human Milk: Comparison with Infant Formulas and Animal Milk

The lipid profile including total fatty acid (FA), sn-2 positional distribution on triacylglycerol, and phospholipid (PL) FA in human milk, infant formulas, and animal milk (cow, goat, camel, donkey, and yak milk) were analyzed. Animal milk contained higher saturated fatty acids (45.08%-66.29%) than human milk (37.44%) and infant formula (33.46%). In the perspective of FA, human milk and the commercial formulas showed a better similarity. Human milk contained significantly (p < 0.05) higher 16:0 at the sn-2 position (50.88%) than infant formulas (23.09%) and animal milk (28.95%-46.72%). As to PL-FA, human milk contained significantly (p < 0.05) higher 16:0 and 18:0 but lower 18:1 n-9 than other milk. The relative contents of arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and nervonic acid (NA) in human milk were higher in PL-FA than that in total FA. Noteworthy, the contents of AA, DHA, and NA in both total FA and PL-FA were higher in human milk than other milk. These results indicated that the fortification of 16:0 at the sn-2 position, and AA, DHA, and NA in both total FA and PL-FA could improve the quality of infant formulas.