Table 3.
The mean values of the total (T), essential (E), non-essential (NE), and essential to total amino acid (AA) ratio in human milk and infant formulas.
| Amino Acid Content | HM | Infant Formula | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | |||||||
| I | II/III | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| TAA | g/100 g of protein | 86.47 c | 85.81 C | 95.12 a | 97.52 A | 89.19 b | 94.20 A* | 88.23 b | 92.13 A |
| EAA | 40.93 b* | 35.59 B | 44.50 a | 45.08 A | 41.78 b | 43.43 A | 41.26 b | 43.28 A | |
| NEAA | 45.54 b | 50.22 B* | 50.62 a | 52.44 A | 47.41 b | 50.77 B | 46.97 b | 48.85 B | |
| EAA/TAA | % | 47 a | 41 B* | 47 a | 46 A | 47 a | 46 A | 47 a | 47 A |
Abbreviation: HM-I—human milk (1st stage of lactation), HM-II/III—human milk (2nd and 3rd stage of lactation); IF-A-1/IF-B-1/IF-C-1—infant formulas from different manufacturers for the first feeding; IF-A-2/IF-B-2/IF-C-2—infant formulas from different manufacturers for the follow-on feeding, TAA—total amino acids, EAA—essential amino acids, NEAA—non-essential amino acids. Means with different letters (a,b,c/A,B,C) are significantly different (p < 0.05). Means a,b,c specify differences between HM-I, IF-A-1, IF-B-1, and IF-C-1; means A,B,C specify differences between HM-II/III, IF-A-2, IF-B-2, and IF-C-2. Values marked with * indicate differences in TAA, EAA, NEAA, and EAA/TAA content between breast milk from the I and II/III lactation period or between first and follow-on infant formulas.