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Fat loss in thawed breast milk: Comparison between refrigerator and warm water

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Abstract

Objective

To compare the fat loss between refrigerator and warm water thawed breast milk.

Design

Experimental.

Setting

Tertiary-care pediatric university hospital.

Participants

Ninety samples of expressed breast milk were collected from mothers with singleton babies of a gestational age 32–42 weeks.

Main Outcome Measures

Fat content in fresh breast milk (FM); thawed breast milk by refrigeration (RM); and thawed breast milk by warm water (WM).

Results

The mean (SD) total fat content in FM, RM and WM were 2.98 (0.97), 2.76 (0.99) and 2.66 (0.88) g/100 mL, respectively. The mean difference (SD) of the total fat in FM declined significantly after the frozen milk was thawed by refrigeration or warm water at −0.22 (0.50) g/100 mL (P=0.0001) and −0.32 (0.45) g/100 mL (P<0.0001), respectively. The mean (SD) total fat loss of frozen breast milk thawed by refrigeration was less than thawing in warm water at 0.094 (0.38) g/100 mL (P=0.02).

Conclusion

The fat loss of thawed breast milk by refrigeration was significantly less than placing it in warm water.

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Correspondence to Anucha Thatrimontrichai.

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Thatrimontrichai, A., Janjindamai, W. & Puwanant, M. Fat loss in thawed breast milk: Comparison between refrigerator and warm water. Indian Pediatr 49, 877–880 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-012-0219-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-012-0219-x

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