Breast Milk: A Source of Functional Compounds with Potential Application in Nutrition and Therapy

Breast milk is an unbeatable food that covers all the nutritional requirements of an infant in its different stages of growth up to six months after birth. In addition, breastfeeding benefits both maternal and child health. Increasing knowledge has been acquired regarding the composition of breast m...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez Fente, Cristina, Franco Fente, Luís, Regal López, Patricia, Lamas Freire, Alexandre, Cepeda Sáez, Alberto, Fente Sampayo, Cristina Asunción
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
Repositorio:Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:minerva.usc.gal:10347/43459
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43459
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Breast milk
Infant formulas
Functional compounds
Milk fat globule membrane
Breastmilk proteins
Oligosaccharides
Growth factors
Milk exosomes
Milk microbiome
Probiotics
3206 Ciencias de la nutrición
Descrição
Resumo:Breast milk is an unbeatable food that covers all the nutritional requirements of an infant in its different stages of growth up to six months after birth. In addition, breastfeeding benefits both maternal and child health. Increasing knowledge has been acquired regarding the composition of breast milk. Epidemiological studies and epigenetics allow us to understand the possible lifelong effects of breastfeeding. In this review we have compiled some of the components with clear functional activity that are present in human milk and the processes through which they promote infant development and maturation as well as modulate immunity. Milk fat globule membrane, proteins, oligosaccharides, growth factors, milk exosomes, or microorganisms are functional components to use in infant formulas, any other food products, nutritional supplements, nutraceuticals, or even for the development of new clinical therapies. The clinical evaluation of these compounds and their commercial exploitation are limited by the difficulty of isolating and producing them on an adequate scale. In this work we focus on the compounds produced using milk components from other species such as bovine, transgenic cattle capable of expressing components of human breast milk or microbial culture engineering.