Table 1.
Variations in mature human milk composition in different sample populations.
| Population | Characteristics of Participants | Analytical Technique | Energy 1 | Fat 2 | Lactose 2 | Protein 2 | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD | |||||||
| Korea | 2632 healthy lactating mothers of full-term infants (32.0 ± 3.3 years) | Infrared spectrophotometry (MilkoScan FT2) | 61.1 ± 12.1 | 3.0 ± 1.4 | 7.1 ± 0.4 | 1.4 ± 0.3 | Chang, 2015 [13] |
| China | 436 urban Chinese lactating mothers | Infrared spectrophotometry | 61.3 | 3.4 | 7.1 | 0.9 | Yang, 2014 [19] |
| Tibet | 82 breastfeeding Tibetans living at high and low altitudes in rural villages | Micro Rose–Gottlieb | 81.4 ± 17.4 | 5.3 ± 2.0 | 7.4 ± 0.5 | 1.3 ± 0.4 | Quinn, 2016 [20] |
| Philippines | 102 Filipino breastfeeding mothers (24.6–25.4 years) | Micro Rose–Gottlieb | 68.6 ± 15.0 | 3.8 ± 1.5 | 7.3 ± 0.6 | 1.3 ± 0.5 | Quinn, 2012 [21] |
| Brazil | 34 donors of the Human Milk Bank | Infrared spectrophotometry (MilkoScan Minor) | 56.7 ± 11.7 | 3.1± 1.18 | 6.1 ± 0.6 | 1.22 ± 0.5 | Abranches, 2014 [22] |
| United States (DARLING study) | 58 healthy lactating mothers planning to continue nursing for a minimum of 12 months | Lowry assay (protein), Folch extraction (fat), colorimetric (lactose) | 69.7 ± 6.7 | 3.6 ± 0.7 | 7.4 ± 0.15 | 1.2 ± 0.15 | Nommsen, 1991 [18] |
| Australia | 23 lactating mothers of healthy term infants (33.0 ± 3 years) | Mid-infrared spectrophotometry (MIRIS) | 82.4 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 1.0 | Khan, 2013 [23] |
1 Energy is presented as kilocalories (kcal) per 100 mL. 2 Macronutrients are presented as grams per 100 mL. SD, standard deviation.