Quantification of phospholipids in infant formula and growing up milk by high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detector

Abstract

Phospholipids (PLs) are well known for their excellent emulsifier properties and more recently for their biological functions, such as cell signing, brain development, immune function, heart health, and cancer prevention, besides their physiological role in membrane composition. In dairy products, PLs represent 0.2-1% of milk fat. The milk PLs comprise phosphatidyicholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and sphingomyelin (SPH) as the major compounds; phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine are minor PLs. A new generation of dairy products claiming PL family content, such as SPH, is being produced; therefore, a validated method for quantifying PL families in dairy products is needed. In this study, an HPLC-evaporative light scattering detector method to quantify the most abundant milk PL families, i.e., PC, PE, and SPH, in infant formula and growing up milk was developed and validated.