Lipids in human milk

I have reviewed recent (March 1995–December 1997) papers on human milk lipids including many on fatty acid (FA) composition. The effects of maternal diets on the profiles are apparent. However, more data on the composition of milk lipids are needed. It is noteworthy that so few papers on milk FA composition have reported analyses using high-resolution gas-liquid chromatography columns. Two of these were on milk from women in North America. The diets in North America are varied and the number of analyses few. We do not have a reliable data base showing the ranges of biologically important acids. Except for the gangliosides, few new data on the other lipids appeared during this period.