Modification of fatty acid and sterol composition of caprine milk for use as infant formula

Caprine milk was modified with vegetable oils to simulate the lipid content of human milk (HM) for infant feeding. Five different blends of vegetable oils were prepared and added separately to skimmed caprine milk (SCM) at a rate of 4.4 g oil per 100 mL milk. The unmodified caprine milk (CM), SCM, and the five formulated milks were analyzed for fatty acid profiles and sterol contents by gas chromatography (GC). The formula modified with 2.5/1.1/0.8 (v/v/v) coconut, safflower, and soybean oils had the closest similarity in fatty acid profile to that of HM. The total sterol contents of CM, SCM, HM and the five formulated milk groups were 11.6, 10.4, 19.1, 21.6, 26.6, 26.9, 21.2, and 21.3 mg 100 mL−1, respectively. The phytosterol contents of the formulated milks were closer to that of HM than the CM. The formulated milks also contained appreciable quantities of stigmasterol, campesterol and beta-sitosterol, as in HM.