Holder Pasteurization: Comparison of Water-Bath and Dry-Tempering Devices

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Food Science
• Neonatal Nutrition

Background:

• Holder pasteurization (HoP) is standard for microbial safety of human milk (HM) for premature infants, but degrades heat-sensitive components.
• Dry-tempering devices (DT-HoP) are newer alternatives to water-bath Holder pasteurizers (WB-HoP) due to hygiene concerns.
• Limited data exists on the impact of DT-HoP on HM quality compared to traditional methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the protein retention rates of human milk after processing with dry-tempering Holder pasteurization (DT-HoP), water-bath Holder pasteurization (WB-HoP), and short-time heat treatment (HTST).
• To evaluate the impact of different pasteurization methods on key bioactive components in human milk.

Main Methods:

• Colorimetric determination of alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP).
• Quantification of secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and lactoferrin (LF) concentrations.
• Measurements were taken before and after DT-HoP, WB-HoP, and HTST processing.

Main Results:

• Alkaline phosphatase activity was undetectable after HoP but retained 52.8% after HTST (p < 0.01).
• Secretory IgA retention was significantly lower with DT-HoP (57%) compared to WB-HoP (73.2%) (p = 0.0018).
• Lactoferrin retention was also lower with DT-HoP (25%) versus WB-HoP (47%), though not statistically significant (p = 0.07).
• HTST demonstrated superior retention of sIgA (80.4%) and LF (70%) compared to both HoP methods (p < 0.01).

Conclusions:

• Dry-tempering Holder pasteurization results in a greater loss of human milk quality compared to water-bath Holder pasteurization.
• Short-time heat treatment (HTST) preserves beneficial human milk components more effectively than Holder pasteurization methods.
• HTST warrants further investigation for its potential clinical application in processing human milk for vulnerable infant populations.