Highlights
- •We categorized regions of China to study regional differences in milk fatty acids.
- •Average ratio of ΣSFAs: ΣMUFAs: ΣPUFAs was 1:1:0.7 and was similar among regions.
- •Contents of palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids were also similar among regions.
- •Palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids account for >70% of mature milk fatty acids.
- •ALA and DHA differed more greatly than palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids.
Abstract
Maternal factors such as the diet can impact human milk fatty acid profiles. We hypothesized
that mature human milk fatty acid profiles differ among regions of China. To test
our hypothesis, we conducted a systematic review to calculate regional average contents
of fatty acids and the statistical significance of regional differences in fatty acids.
We searched both Chinese and English literature databases and selected 21 articles,
including 11 in Chinese and 10 in English. We categorized regions of China by 3 ways:
1) north vs. south; 2) inland vs. coastal; 3) socioeconomic development levels. The
ratios of ΣSFAs:ΣMUFAs:ΣPUFAs were similar between regions and the average was 1:1:0.7.
Contents of palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids were also similar between regions
and together they accounted for more than 70% of all fatty acids in mature human milk.
Conversely, concentrations of ALA and DHA differed more than palmitic, oleic, and
linoleic acids. We also found that it might be necessary to reduce maternal dietary
contents of potentially harmful fatty acids such as erucic acid to minimize detrimental
effects on infant health. To our knowledge, this study represents the first systematic
review that quantitatively investigated the regional similarities and differences
in mature human milk fatty acid contents and is therefore significant for academia
and policy makers.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
SFAs (saturated fatty acids), MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids), PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids), ALA (α-linolenic acid), LA (linoleic Acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), ARA (arachidonic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 30, 2020
Accepted:
September 29,
2020
Received in revised form:
September 26,
2020
Received:
May 25,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
