Volatile profile of breast milk subjected to high-pressure processing or thermal treatment

• Thermal treatment caused variations in the profile of volatile compounds of breast milk.
• Intense high pressure treatments produced strong modifications in the profile of volatile compounds of breast milk.
• HPP at 400 and 600 MPa for 3 min maintained volatile compounds at similar levels to those found in control milk samples.

The effect of Holder pasteurisation (HoP) (62.5 °C for 30 min) or high-pressure treatments (400 or 600 MPa for 3 or 6 min) on the volatile compound profile of human breast milk was evaluated, in order to compare both preservation technologies. A total of 46 different volatile compounds was found in milk samples. The most abundant compounds detected were aliphatic hydrocarbons. In general, the effect of some high-pressure treatments on the volatile profile of human milk was less intense than that caused by HoP. The treatments at 400 and 600 MPa for 3 min maintained the volatile compounds at similar levels to those found in control milk samples. However, the application of 600 MPa for 6 min changed the original volatile compounds of human milk, even more than HoP. Since, HPP at 400 or 600 MPa for 3 min preserved the original volatile compounds of human milk, this novel process may be an alternative to thermal pasteurisation.