Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Semi-Targeted Ultra-High-Performance Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Phenolic Metabolites in Plasma of Elderly Adults
Published on: April 22, 2022
Polyphenol analysis in human milk by a rapid, cost-effective, and accurate micromethod: translational development
Mariela Valentina Cortez1, Ana Veronica Scotta1, Agustín Ramiro Miranda2
1Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Escuela de Fonoaudiología, Ciudad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Objective:
To develop a rapid method for analysing polyphenols, which are potentially active antioxidants against neonatal oxidative stress, from small human milk (HM) volumes.
Methods:
Acid and alkaline extractions were compared using two dyes: Folin-Ciocalteu and Fast Blue BB. Linearity, sensitivity, recovery percentage, polyphenol content, precision, and stability were assessed in 14 HM samples and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis H test (p<0.05). The best technique was applied to 284 HM samples to determine their polyphenolic content and its association with maternal diet by multifactorial linear regression.
Results:
Acidic extraction successfully recovered the gallic acid reference standard, whereas alkaline extraction overestimated it. Calibration curves for all methods were linear (R2>0.96) up to 500 mg/L. All bicarbonate-based Folin-Ciocalteu methods assayed were stable and repeatable, whereas Fast Blue BB-based variants were not. HM polyphenols (mean=94.68 mg/L) positively correlated to the dietary intake of hydroxycinnamic acids, the most consumed polyphenolic family in this population.
Conclusions:
A bicarbonate-based Folin-Ciocalteu micromethod allowed the accurate determination of polyphenols in HM, which might be useful for translational research settings and HM banks.
