Milk in human nutrition: comparison of fatty acid profiles

The aim of this study was to determine and compare fatty acid composition of human milk, infant formula and cow milk most often consumed in Serbian population. Samples were analyzed by gas chromatography. The results showed that saturated fatty acids were predominant in all types of milk, particularly in cow milk with more than 70%. Monounsaturated oleic acid was significantly higher in human milk (36%) than in infants formula (30%) and cow milk (26%). Although polyunsaturated fatty acids content of cow milk was very low (3.6%) compared with infant formula (15%) and human milk (19%), cow milk had the most desirable n6/n3 ratio, and content of n-3 precursor alfa-linolenic acid. Low content of n-3 fatty acids may be due to a relatively low consumption of marine foods in Serbian population. Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are important in infant development and maintenance of overall human health, were detected only in human milk. These results suggest that human milk is most desirable food in infant nutrition, but low content of n-3 fatty acids indicates that supplementation of lactating women with n-3 fatty acids is highly recommendable