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A comparative study of lipid composition and powder quality among powdered infant formula with novel functional structured lipids and commercial infant formulas

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Abstract

Pancreatic lipase activity and bile salt concentration are very low in infants. Therefore, infant formula (IF) preparation with structured lipids (SLs) containing essential fatty acids and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) with easy absorption features has attracted great attention. In this work, the lipid composition and physiochemical properties of novel SLs enriched with medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCTs) and their incorporation into a powdered IF compared to commercial IFs were evaluated. The obtained results showed that the SL contains arachidonic (ARA), caprylic, and capric as major fatty acids (FAs). Further, the evaluation of commercial IFs oil showed that oleic, linoleic, palmitic, and lauric were the most abundant FAs. A novel SL possessed highest levels of MCFAs (36.33 ± 1.05%) at sn-1,3 positions and LCUFAs (65.91 ± 1.32%) at the sn-2 position especially ARA (42.82 ± 0.89%). A total of 45, 38, and 25 triacylglycerols molecular species were revealed in a novel SL and commercial IFs available in China and the USA, respectively. Thermoprofile revealed that all IFs oil samples melted below the body temperature. The formula produced with microencapsulated SL and the dry-mixing process showed better optical properties and oxidative stability having lower moisture content. The study has potential applications in the development of IF with improved properties.

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Abbreviations

IF:

Infant formula

SLs:

Structured lipids

EFAs:

Essential fatty acids

ARA:

Arachidonic acid

LCUFAs:

Long-chain unsaturated fatty acids

MCFAs:

Medium-chain fatty acids

MAG:

Monoacylglycerol

FA:

Fatty acid

LCFAs:

Long-chain fatty acids

MLCTs:

Medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols

TAGs:

Triacylglycerols

DSC:

Differential scanning calorimeter

SCFAs:

Short-chain fatty acids

FAMEs:

Fatty acids methyl ester

UPLC-Q-TOF-MS:

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry

ECN:

Equivalent carbon number

CN:

Total carbon number without glycerol

DB:

Number of double bonds in the fatty acid

CIFL (1):

Fat extracted from a commercial infant formula available in China

CIFL (2):

Fat extracted from a commercial infant formula available in the USA

IN:

Inulin

WPI:

Whey protein isolate

FDA:

Food and Drug Administration

WHO:

World Health Organization

MML:

Medium-, medium- and long-chain-type MLCTs

LMM:

Long-, medium- and medium-chain type MLCTs

LML:

Long-, medium- and long-chain-type MLCTs

MLL:

Medium-, long- and long-chain-type MLCTs

LLM:

Long-, long- and medium-chain-type MLCTs

MLM:

Medium-, long- and medium-chain-type MLCTs

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant (31701558) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP11734).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou, 510641, Guangdong, China

    Sameh A. Korma, Li Li, Khaled A. E. Abdrabo & Abdul Rahaman

  2. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Quality Control in Jiangsu Province, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Sameh A. Korma, Abdelmoneim H. Ali, Sherif M. Abed, Ibrahim A. Bakry, Wei Wei & Xingguo Wang

  3. Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, 114 El-Zeraa Road, Zagazig, Sharkia , 44511, Egypt

    Sameh A. Korma & Abdelmoneim H. Ali

  4. Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Science, Arish University, Arish, 45516, North Sinai, Egypt

    Sherif M. Abed

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  1. Sameh A. Korma
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  2. Li Li
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  3. Khaled A. E. Abdrabo
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  4. Abdelmoneim H. Ali
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  5. Abdul Rahaman
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  9. Xingguo Wang
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Correspondence to Li Li or Xingguo Wang.

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Korma, S.A., Li, L., Abdrabo, K.A.E. et al. A comparative study of lipid composition and powder quality among powdered infant formula with novel functional structured lipids and commercial infant formulas. Eur Food Res Technol 246, 2569–2586 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-020-03597-7

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