Table 3.
Comparison of fatty acids contents (% of total fatty acids) in mature breast milk (>2 weeks and ≤16 weeks postpartum) from selected countries.
| Malaysia Mean ± SD | China Mean ± SD | South Korea Mean ± SD | Canada Mean ± SD | Switzerland Median (IQR) | Poland Mean ± SD | * Bolivia Mean ± SD/Median (IQR) | * USA Mean ± SD/Median (IQR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C14:0 myristic acid | 7.42 ± 0.41 | 4.2 ± 1.7 | 5.97 ± 1.80 | 6.27 (1.93) | 9.5 ± 2.5 | 9.81 ± 4.18 | 8.67 ± 2.81 | |
| C16:0 palmitic acid | 26.8 ± 0.47 | 19.8 ± 2.6 | 20.90 ± 2.76 | 23.29 (3.31) | 19.7 ± 2.5 | 24.96 ± 3.13 | 20.00 ± 2.64 | |
| C18:0 stearic acid | 4.70 ± 0.13 | 5.1 ± 1.1 | 6.54 ± 1.31 | 6.75 (1.69) | 6.4 ± 1.5 | 5.54 ± 1.49 | 6.67 ± 1.51 | |
| Total SFA | 49.1 ± 4.9 | 36.2 ± 4.7 | 42.1 ± 5.6 | 39.75 ± 5.00 | 43.86 (5.93) | 41.9 ± 4.9 | ||
| Oleic Acid C18:1 n-9 | 32.5 ± 0.47 | 31.9 ± 3.6 | 37.05 ± 3.59 | 37.67 (4.82) | 35.4 ± 3.1 | |||
| Total MUFA | 38.5 ± 3.8 | 36.9 ± 4.1 | 36.3 ± 4.9 | 43.06 ± 3.59 | 43.84 (4.96) | 39.6 ± 3.1 | ||
| Total PUFA | 12.3 ± 1.8 | 21.5 ± 4.7 | 11.77 (3.43) | 15.1 ± 3.4 | ||||
| Total n-3 PUFA | 1.05 ± 0.10 | 1.9 ± 0.9 | 3.01 ± 1.3 | 2.39 ± 0.70 | 1.11 (0.36) | 2.7 ± 0.9 | 3.44 | 2.00 |
| α-Linolenic Acid C18:3 | 0.37 ± 0.08 | 1.5 ± 0.9 | 1.92 ± 0.61 | 0.74 (0.30) | 1.5 ± 0.6 | 1.64 (0.60–2.68) | 1.39 (0.61–2.17) | |
| EPA C20:5 | 0.06 ± 0.01 | 0.05 ± 0.07 | 0.15 ± 0.12 | 0.08 ± 0.05 | 0.06 (0.04) | 0.2 ± 0.1 | 1.17 (0.04–0.30) | 0.06 (0.02–0.10) |
| DHA C22:6 | 0.49 ± 0.05 | 0.5 ± 0.2 | 0.67 ± 0.47 | 0.18 ± 0.12 | 0.28 (0.17) | 0.7 ± 0.3 | 0.62 (0.31–0.93) | 0.13 (0.04–0.21) |
| Total n-6 PUFA | 11.2 ± 0.42 | 24.1 ± 5.0 | 18.2 ± 3.9 | 14.80 ± 3.09 | 10.61 (3.17) | 12.1 ± 2.7 | 12.47 | 20.58 |
| Linoleic Acid C18:2 | 10.0 ± 0.40 | 22.8 ± 4.9 | 13.62 ± 3.01 | 9.35 (2.90) | 11.1 ± 2.6 | 9.31 (3.86–14.8) | 18.1 (12.8–24.1) | |
| Arachidonic Acid C20:4 | 0.39 ± 30.03 | 0.7 ± 0.2 | 0.48 ± 0.13 | 0.38 ± 0.09 | 0.20 (0.04) | 0.5 ± 0.1 | 0.96 (0.44–1.48) | 0.56 (0.43–0.69) |
| n-6–n-3 ratio | 10.1 ± 3.77 | 12.5 ± 5.5 | 6.7 ± 2.0 | 6.53 ± 1.72 | 9.58 (3.31) | 4.6 ± 1.0 | 3.48 | 7.56 |
Malaysia: current study. China (cities Beijing, Suzhou, and Guangzhou): Guiffrida et al., 2016 [34]. South Korea: Kim et al., 2017 [7]. Canada: Moossavi et al., 2019 [35]. Switzerland: Thakkar, 2019 [36]. Poland: Bzikowska–Jura et al., 2019 [26]. * Bolivia and * USA: Innis, 2014 [6]; * Bolivia and * USA: Martin et al., 2012 [37].