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Updated: Oct 22, 2025
Milk Collection in the Rat Using Capillary Tubes and Estimation of Milk Fat Content by Creamatocrit
Published on: December 16, 2015
Evaluation of the changes in human milk lipid composition and conformational state with Raman spectroscopy during a
Johanna R de Wolf1, Anki Lenferink1, Aufried Lenferink2
1Biomedical Photonic Imaging Group, Faculty of Science and Technology, Technical Medical Centre, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Human milk fat forms the main energy source for breastfed infants, and is highly variable in terms of concentration and composition. Understanding the changes in human milk lipid composition and conformational state during a breastfeed can provide insight into lipid synthesis and secretion in the mammary gland. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate human milk fatty acid length, degree of unsaturation (lipid composition) and lipid phase (lipid conformational state) at different stages during a single breastfeed (fore-, bulk- and hindmilk). A total of 48 samples from 16 lactating subjects were investigated with confocal Raman spectroscopy. We did not observe any significant changes in lipid composition between fore-, bulk and hindmilk. A new finding from this study is that lipid conformational state at room temperature changed significantly during a breastfeed, from almost crystalline to almost liquid. This observation suggests that lipid synthesis in the mammary gland changes during a single breastfeed.
