Polar lipid, ganglioside and cholesterol contents of infant formulae and growing up milks produced with an alpha lactalbumin-enriched whey protein concentrate

The minor lipids of human milk fat, mainly originating from the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), provide several nutritionally important components, including gangliosides, cholesteryl esters and polar lipids (PLs; e.g., phospholipids and sphingolipids). These components are typically lower in infant formula (IF) than in human milk, since the former primarily contain vegetable oils as lipid sources. In this study, IF and growing up milk (GUM) prototypes containing a specific α-lactalbumin-enriched whey protein concentrate (80% protein) were produced to have higher levels of cholesterol, gangliosides and PLs than prototypes containing whey protein concentrate (35% protein). In the case of the enriched IF, PLs (46 mg 100 mL−1), gangliosides (2.20 mg 100 mL−1) and cholesterol (10.0 mg 100 mL−1) levels were all similar to those reported for human milk, demonstrating that appropriate ingredient selection can be used to achieve a lipid profile closer to human milk without the need for specialised MFGM fractions.