"Nature has given us the best food for babies. It is, of course, mother\'s milk, which is why I\'m an advocate of long breast feeding. The World Health Organization recommends that children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, and, if possible, feeding should be continued for a period of two years. However, natural feeding is not always possible" - said Dr. Joanna Bryś from Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

In situations where infants can not drink mother\'s milk, special baby food is used. The products available on the market are, however imperfect, in young children they can cause, for example. constipation, calcium deficits. "I was fascinated by the subject and began to study nutrition products for infants" - described Dr. Bryś. It turned out that the cause was a wrong type of fat contained in modified milk.

"My goal was to obtain a natural human milk fat substitute, which would be one of the ingredients of foods for infants" - said Dr. Bryś, which in collaboration with ETH Zurich used natural fat components.

For the production of natural fat substitute she used cow\'s milk fat and lard. The composition of these fats and their structure are similar to the fat in breast milk. The second component she used were fatty acids from borage oil, linseed oil, evening primrose oil. These oils contain essential fatty acids from families Omega-6 and Omega-3. "We purposefully used oils from different raw materials, because we wanted to obtain a substitute, in which portions of Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids would be appropriate" - the researcher told PAP.

Fats - depending on the origin - differ not only in the type of fatty acids, but also their spatial arrangement in the molecule. The texture of fat and that the extent to which it is digested by the body depends on this arrangement. Breast milk fat has a specific arrangement of fatty acids, due to which it is well digested by the child.

"But if the baby eats milk wherein the fat is substituted with vegetable oil, for example. sunflower or corn oil, there can be a loss of calcium in the body. Calcium from the food is bound by long-chain saturated acids, which are released from these oils in the process of digestion and then excreted. It can also cause constipation and loss of fat, which is an energy source for babies. Therefore, in our substitute we wanted to obtain a composition and arrangement of fatty acids similar to human milk fat" - explained Dr. Bryś.

As a base for their substitute the researchers used cow\'s milk fat and lard. They are characterized by similar arrangement of fatty acids in the molecule, and similar digestibility. "Their disadvantage is, however, that they do not contain essential fatty acids. We have provided them by adding fatty acids from oils to our base. Using a natural enzyme, we attached them to specific positions in fat molecule" - the researcher told PAP.

She admitted that the disadvantage of the solution is the large cost of manufacturing the substitute, especially the cost of the enzyme. Scientists are trying to cut costs by using less expensive oils, for example canola oil. "But for now, if a manufacturer wanted to use our solution, they would have to expect high costs. Due to these higher costs, interest is small. Small businesses watch their expenses, and large companies have their own research centres outside Poland. It is difficult to reach such companies" - admitted Dr. Bryś.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Ewelina Krajczyńska

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