How far are we from tailor-made human milk fat substitutes?

Background

Infant formula can hardly mimic human milk completely, especially for lipid components. The main lipid type in human milk fat is 1,3-di-unsaturated-2-palmitoyl-glycerol of which the unsaturated fatty acids change with geographical regions. Human milk fat substitutes with similar composition to local human milk fat are suggested for local infants. Additionally, genetic polymorphisms of infants can influence endogenous synthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Brain development can be impaired if long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are supplemented without considering their endogenous synthesis. This asks for customized, or tailor-made long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for individuals. Therefore, human milk fat substitutes should be tailor-made considering both geographical regions and genetic polymorphisms of infants.

Scope and approach

We describe the necessity of tailor-made human milk fat substitutes, their preparation methods, and application perspectives.

Key findings and conclusions

Although traditional enzymatic synthesis is common for preparing human milk fat substitutes, it still has obvious disadvantages. These disadvantages include limited sources of substrates (lipids rich in palmitic acid at the sn-2 position), low purity of target products and high preparation cost. To overcome disadvantages, we propose a “novel enzymatic synthesis” based on biotechnological methods (such as protein engineering) and tailor-made synthesis (based on substrate pretreatment and computer AI assistance). Despite numerous challenges in the application of tailor-made human milk fat substitutes, technological advances, governmental support, strategic consortium and increased public awareness will progressively stimulate the positive development of this field. We also discuss development perspectives for tailor-made human milk fat substitutes.