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Review
. 2023 Jun 21:10:1194679.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1194679. eCollection 2023.

A comprehensive review on infant formula: nutritional and functional constituents, recent trends in processing and its impact on infants' gut microbiota

Shiva Bakshi  1 , Vinod Kumar Paswan  1 , Satya Prakash Yadav  1 , Basant Kumar Bhinchhar  2 , Sheela Kharkwal  3 , Hency Rose  4 , Prajasattak Kanetkar  1 , Vishal Kumar  1 , Zakarya Ali Saleh Al-Zamani  1   5 , Durga Shankar Bunkar  1
Affiliations
Review

A comprehensive review on infant formula: nutritional and functional constituents, recent trends in processing and its impact on infants' gut microbiota

Shiva Bakshi et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Human milk is considered the most valuable form of nutrition for infants for their growth, development and function. So far, there are still some cases where feeding human milk is not feasible. As a result, the market for infant formula is widely increasing, and formula feeding become an alternative or substitute for breastfeeding. The nutritional value of the formula can be improved by adding functional bioactive compounds like probiotics, prebiotics, human milk oligosaccharides, vitamins, minerals, taurine, inositol, osteopontin, lactoferrin, gangliosides, carnitine etc. For processing of infant formula, diverse thermal and non-thermal technologies have been employed. Infant formula can be either in powdered form, which requires reconstitution with water or in ready-to-feed liquid form, among which powder form is readily available, shelf-stable and vastly marketed. Infants' gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem and the nutrient composition of infant formula is recognized to have a lasting effect on it. Likewise, the gut microbiota establishment closely parallels with host immune development and growth. Therefore, it must be contemplated as an important factor for consideration while developing formulas. In this review, we have focused on the formulation and manufacturing of safe and nutritious infant formula equivalent to human milk or aligning with the infant's needs and its ultimate impact on infants' gut microbiota.

Keywords: breastfeeding; human milk; infant diet formulation; infant gut microbiome; milk formulas; non-thermal processing techniques; pediatric nutrition; thermal processing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bioactive peptides in milk and their functional effects.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram presenting the processing steps involved in manufacturing of Infant Formula (A) Dry-blending, (B) Wet-blending, (C) Combination of dry and wet blending (D) Liquid infant formula.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pros and cons of different processing technologies applied for manufacturing infant formula. HPP, High pressure processing; PEF, Pulsed electric filed.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Potential pathway entailing gut microbiota and its link to long-metabolic health. HMO, Human milk oligosaccharides; SCFAs, Short-chain fatty acids; PYY, Peptide YY; IGF-1, Insulin-like factor-1; miRNA, non-coding microRNA; GLP-1, Glucagon-like peptide-1.
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