. 2021 Jul 13;114(4):1523–1534. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab222

TABLE 2.

FA composition (mol% of total quantified FAs) of donor and mother's milk by lactation stage¹

		Mother's milk²
	Donor milk (n = 54)	Colostrum (n = 18)	Transitional (n = 80)	Early-mature (n = 92)	Later-mature (n = 45)
Total fat, g/dL	3.26 ± 0.13^a	3.21 ± 0.21^a	3.86 ± 0.11^b	3.78 ± 0.10^b	4.05 ± 0.14^b
10:0	0.31 ± 0.06^a	0.07 ± 0.08^b	0.38 ± 0.05^a	0.33 ± 0.05^a	0.32 ± 0.06^a
12:0	2.85 ± 0.34^a	3.08 ± 0.43^a	5.38 ± 0.26^b	4.85 ± 0.25^c	4.46 ± 0.32^c
14:0	4.58 ± 0.34^a	6.46 ± 0.42^b	8.30 ± 0.26^d	7.62 ± 0.25^c	7.16 ± 0.32^c
16:0	18.15 ± 0.31^a	22.35 ± 0.46^b	21.14 ± 0.25^c	21.14 ± 0.23^c	20.88 ± 0.32^c
18:0	5.14 ± 0.14^a	5.58 ± 0.20^abc	5.47 ± 0.11^ab	5.79 ± 0.10^c	5.60 ± 0.14^bc
20:0	0.13 ± 0.00^a	0.17 ± 0.01^b	0.16 ± 0.00^bc	0.16 ± 0.00^bc	0.16 ± 0.01^bc
21:0	0.13 ± 0.01^a	0.08 ± 0.00^b	0.08 ± 0.01^b	0.09 ± 0.01^b	0.08 ± 0.01^b
22:0	0.05 ± 0.00^a	0.08 ± 0.01^b	0.07 ± 0.00^bc	0.07 ± 0.00^bc	0.06 ± 0.00^c
23:0	0.10 ± 0.01^a	0.12 ± 0.01^ab	0.13 ± 0.01^b	0.13 ± 0.01^bc	0.11 ± 0.01^ac
24:0	0.04 ± 0.00^a	0.12 ± 0.01^b	0.09 ± 0.00^c	0.07 ± 0.00^d	0.06 ± 0.00^e
Total SFAs	31.86 ± 0.74^a	39.22 ± 0.97^b	41.68 ± 0.57^c	40.83 ± 0.55^bc	39.39 ± 0.71^bc
14:1n–5	0.21 ± 0.01^a	0.14 ± 0.02^b	0.18 ± 0.01^b	0.19 ± 0.01^ac	0.18 ± 0.01^bc
16:1n–7	2.64 ± 0.08^a	2.17 ± 0.10^bc	2.15 ± 0.06^c	2.28 ± 0.06^b	2.32 ± 0.08^b
17:1n–7	0.19 ± 0.01^a	0.17 ± 0.01^bc	0.16 ± 0.00^c	0.17 ± 0.00^b	0.17 ± 0.01^bc
18:1n–7	1.89 ± 0.04^ac	2.15 ± 0.06^b	1.99 ± 0.03^c	1.88 ± 0.03^a	1.91 ± 0.04^ac
18:1n–9	39.78 ± 0.55^a	34.95 ± 0.74^bc	33.86 ± 0.43^b	34.17 ± 0.41^b	35.20 ± 0.54^c
20:1n–9	0.47 ± 0.01^a	0.67 ± 0.02^b	0.59 ± 0.01^c	0.51 ± 0.01^d	0.49 ± 0.02^ad
22:1n–9	0.06 ± 0.00^a	0.15 ± 0.01^b	0.11 ± 0.00^c	0.08 ± 0.00^d	0.07 ± 0.00^e
24:1n–9	0.02 ± 0.00^a	0.18 ± 0.01^b	0.12 ± 0.00^c	0.07 ± 0.00^d	0.05 ± 0.00^e
Total MUFAs	46.02 ± 0.58^a	41.16 ± 0.78^bc	40.03 ± 0.45^b	40.23 ± 0.43^b	41.33 ± 0.57^c
18:3n–3 (ALA)	2.20 ± 0.07^a	1.71 ± 0.10^bcd	1.65 ± 0.06^d	1.77 ± 0.05^b	1.94 ± 0.07^c
20:3n–3	0.05 ± 0.00^a	0.14 ± 0.01^b	0.11 ± 0.00^c	0.09 ± 0.00^d	0.08 ± 0.00^e
20:5n–3 (EPA)	0.14 ± 0.01^a	0.08 ± 0.01^b	0.09 ± 0.01^b	0.09 ± 0.01^b	0.08 ± 0.01^b
22:5n–3 (DPA)	0.21 ± 0.01^a	0.26 ± 0.01^b	0.20 ± 0.01^c	0.19 ± 0.01^c	0.18 ± 0.01^c
22:6n–3	0.30 ± 0.22^ad	0.45 ± 0.03^b	0.40 ± 0.02^c	0.34 ± 0.16^a	0.28 ± 0.20^d
Total n–3 PUFAs	2.87 ± 0.09^a	2.61 ± 0.13^ab	2.41 ± 0.71^b	2.43 ± 0.07^b	2.59 ± 0.09^b
18:2n–6	18.30 ± 0.42^a	15.30 ± 0.57^b	14.50 ± 0.33^bc	15.47 ± 0.31^ad	16.05 ± 0.41^ad
18:3n–6	0.15 ± 0.01^a	0.07 ± 0.01^b	0.08 ± 0.01^bc	0.11 ± 0.01^d	0.11 ± 0.01^d
20:2n–6	0.27 ± 0.01^a	0.67 ± 0.02^b	0.53 ± 0.01^c	0.44 ± 0.01^d	0.38 ± 0.02^e
20:3n–6 (DGLA)	0.40 ± 0.02^a	0.69 ± 0.04^b	0.58 ± 0.02^c	0.51 ± 0.02^d	0.43 ± 0.03^ae
20:4n–6	0.61 ± 0.02^ac	0.71 ± 0.03^b	0.66 ± 0.02^ab	0.57 ± 0.02^c	0.51 ± 0.02^d
22:4n–6	0.23 ± 0.02^a	0.33 ± 0.03^b	0.22 ± 0.02^a	0.19 ± 0.02^a	0.16 ± 0.02^c
22:5n–6	0.03 ± 0.00^a	0.09 ± 0.01^b	0.07 ± 0.00^c	0.04 ± 0.03^d	0.04 ± 0.00^ae
Total n–6 PUFAs	20.09 ± 0.43^a	17.98 ± 0.60^b	16.82 ± 0.34^c	17.43 ± 0.32^cd	17.79 ± 0.43^d
n–6:n–3 PUFA	7.76 ± 0.53	7.07 ± 0.87	7.34 ± 0.42	7.88 ± 0.40	7.19 ± 0.57
ARA:DHA	2.26 ± 0.09^a	1.76 ± 0.09^b	1.77 ± 0.68^b	1.87 ± 0.07^bc	2.05 ± 0.08^ac

Values are means ± SEs. With the exception of total fat (g/dL), all values are percentage composition (mol%). Associations were analyzed using PROC MIXED followed by LSMEANS for pairwise comparisons, accounting for repeated measures using an autoregressive correlation structure. ^a–eStatistically significant differences, P < 0.05. ALA, α-linolenic acid; ARA, arachidonic acid; DGLA, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid; DPA, docosapentaenoic acid; FA, fatty acid.

Colostrum was collected on postpartum days 1–4, transitional milk on days 8–14, early-mature milk on days 15–40, and later-mature milk at >40 d. The earliest sample available for each participant during each stage was selected for analysis.