Comparative evaluation of essential fatty acid composition of mothers' milk of some urban and suburban regions of West Bengal, India

Abstract

This study investigated the fatty acid composition of lipid present in breast milk of mothers residing in urban and suburban regions of West Bengal with special emphasis on n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which played a crucial role in the growth and development of neonates. Milk samples collected from 135 mothers of middle income group (average monthly income around ‘Rs 10,000/-’) were analysed by gas liquid chromatography after extraction and transmethylation to determine fatty acid composition. Information about the dietary intake of individual mothers was obtained through food frequency questionnaire. The fractions of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids available in milk of urban mothers were 13.59 ± 0.94 and 3.65 ± 0.49, respectively, and in suburban mothers 12.74 ± 0.89 and 4.36 ± 0.39, respectively. The green leafy vegetables, fishes and vegetable oils were the major sources of essential fatty acids in the diet of the experimental groups of Bengali mothers. This study revealed a relationship between the alimentary habits of mothers and the concentration of essential fatty acids in breast milk of Bengali mothers.

Keywords::

• fatty acid composition
• breast milk
• essential polyunsaturated fatty acids
• gas chromatography

Acknowledgements

We are very much grateful to the Principal of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata; the Medical Officer of B.R. Singh Hospital, Eastern Railways, Sealdah Division; the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan (Sishu Mangal Hospital), the Superintendent of Naihati State General Hospital, North 24 Parganas; The Assistant Chief Medical Officer of Health (ACMOH) of Baruipur Sub-division and Block Medical Officer of Health (BMOH) of Sri Ramakrishna Rural Hospital, Nimpith, Joynagar, South 24 Parganas for their cooperation. We also express our thankful gratitude to all the nursing stuffs of these concerned hospitals and also to the mothers who gave milk samples. The authors also express their thankful gratitude to the University of Calcutta for granting the University Potentials for Excellence (UPE) fellowship for this work. We would express our thankful gratitude to Dr (Mrs) Mahua Ghosh and Prof. Nil Ratan Bandyopadhyay for their enormous help to correct this manuscript. And finally, we thankfully acknowledge the support of Miss Surashree Sengupta, Dr Avery Sengupta, Mr Siddhartha Sankar Saha and Mr Debjyoti Paul for rendering their support in the final preparation of the manuscript. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the University of Calcutta for granting the fellowship under University Potentials for Excellence (UPE) scheme.

Declaration of interest : All authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.