Effect of conservation methods on nutrients and bioactive components of mature human milk

The study compared the effect of different human milk (HM) preservation methods, including pasteurization (HMP), freeze-drying (HMF), and pasteurization followed by freeze-drying (HMPF), and control (HMC) on centesimal composition, microbiological quality, fatty acids (FA) profile, and cytokines content. Results showed no significant differences were observed in the proximate composition among treatments. Coliforms were present only in the non-pasteurized samples (HMC and HMF), likely reflecting contamination during HM expression and handling. Changes in the FAs were detected in HMF, whereas HMP and HMPF remained comparable to HMC. Oleic acid was the majority FA with values ranging from 633.38 to 910.02 mg g −1 of HM. HMF and HMPF better preserved the cytokine profile, whereas HMP caused significant alterations compared to HMC. Overall, freeze-drying emerged as a promising alternative to conventional preservation methods, offering greater retention of bioactive components while supporting the development of innovative strategies to improve the long-term storage and availability of donor HM.