Objective: To analyse the fatty acid composition of mature human milk in three different geographical positions of China.
Method: Chinese women were recruited from three regions during their pregnancy. The regions closed to freshwater river/lake (Jurong), coastal (Rizhao) and inland (Xushui). Mature milk samples were collected on the 28th day of lactation, 31 kinds of fatty acids were separated and quantified by gas-chromatographic method.
Results: The median of total lipids in 100g of milk were 4.47g in 47 women from Jurong, 1.50g in 50 women from Rizhao and 3.91g in 46 women from Xushui. The median of total fatty acids were 3934, 1319 and 3437 mg/100g milk respectively. Total lipids and total fatty acids from Rizhao region milk samples were significantly lower than those from other two regions. The main fatty acids of SFA, MUFA, n-6PUFA and n-3PUFA in three regions were C16: 0, C18: 1 n-9 cis, C18: 2 n-6 cis and C18: 3 n-3 respectively. The median of the percentage of ARA in total fatty acid were 0.72%, 0.63% and 0.63%, respectively. The median of the percentage of DHA in total fatty acid were 0.41%, 0.47% and 0.24%, respectively. CONCLUSION; There is significant difference among fatty acid composition of mature human milk from women live in the three different geographical positions, which could be caused by different dietary habits amomg regions.