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Review
. 2024 Feb 22:10:1325863.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1325863. eCollection 2023.

Breast milk preservation: thermal and non-thermal processes and their effect on microorganism inactivation and the content of bioactive and nutritional compounds

Alejandro Núñez-Delgado  1   2 , Victoria Margarita Mizrachi-Chávez  1 , Jorge Welti-Chanes  1 , Samantha Thania Macher-Quintana  1 , Cristina Chuck-Hernández  2
Affiliations
Review

Breast milk preservation: thermal and non-thermal processes and their effect on microorganism inactivation and the content of bioactive and nutritional compounds

Alejandro Núñez-Delgado et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Human Breast Milk (HBM) is widely acknowledged as the best nutritional source for neonates. Data indicates that, in 2019, 83.2% of infants in the United States received breast milk at birth, slightly reducing to 78.6% at 1 month. Despite these encouraging early figures, exclusive breastfeeding rates sharply declined, dropping to 24.9% by 6 months. This decline is particularly pronounced when direct breastfeeding is challenging, such as in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and for working mothers. Given this, it is vital to explore alternative breast milk preservation methods. Technologies like Holder Pasteurization (HoP), High-Temperature Short-Time Pasteurization (HTST), High-Pressure Processing (HPP), UV radiation (UV), and Electric Pulses (PEF) have been introduced to conserve HBM. This review aims to enhance the understanding of preservation techniques for HBM, supporting the practice of extended exclusive breastfeeding. It explicitly addresses microbial concerns, focusing on critical pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Cytomegalovirus, and explores how various preservation methods can mitigate these risks. Additionally, the review highlights the importance of retaining the functional elements of HBM, particularly its immunological components such as antibodies and enzymes like lysozyme and Bile Salt Stimulated Lipase (BSSL). The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of HBM treatment, critically assess existing practices, identify areas needing improvement, and advocate for extended exclusive breastfeeding due to its vital role in ensuring optimal nutrition and overall health in infants.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; expressed breast milk; extended breastfeeding; maternal milk; milk conservation; neonatal nutrition; non-thermal treatments.

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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. The handling editor CO declared a past co-authorship with the author CC-H. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of 2019-born children who received any or exclusive Human Breast Milk (HBM) for the first 12 months of their lives (5).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stages of HBM in the function of periods (16, 17), created with BioRender.com.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cells found in HBM (13).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Nutrients found in HBM (20).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Conformation of a milk fat globule with a triacylglyceride (TAG) core, based on Brink and Lönnerdal (30), created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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