Background: The effectiveness of home enteral nutrition depends on the supply and delivery of the prescribed nutrients. This study compared the macronutrient and energy values of home-prepared enteral tube feeding analyzed in the laboratory with the same information calculated from labels and food composition tables.
Methods: A total of 107 enteral formulations were analyzed: 66 commercial enteral formulas (CEFs), 19 homemade enteral preparations, and 22 blended enteral preparations (BEPs). The values of macronutrients and energy and the ratio between the values found in the laboratory and the calculated values were all evaluated. The tolerance limit of acceptable variation was 20%. The results were subjected to chemometric methods using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).
Results: In the three categories of the enteral formulations, the calculated values for protein and fat were higher than those obtained in the laboratory. The calculated values for energy were higher than those obtained in the laboratory for the BEPs and CEFs. The CEFs had the highest percentage within the limit of acceptable variation for carbohydrate and protein, whereas the BEPs presented the lowest values for fat and energy. In the exploratory analysis of data using PCA and HCA, it was possible to verify similarities and discrepancies between the enteral formulations analyzed in the laboratory with those calculated from the labels and food composition tables.
Conclusion: The enteral formulations showed differences between the values of macronutrients and energy analyzed in the laboratory and those calculated from labels and/or food composition tables.
Keywords: carbohydrate; enteral formula; enteral nutrition; fat; food composition; macronutrients; protein.
© 2021 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.