3.5. Correlation between energy supply ratio of three major nutrients and triacylglycerol composition of breast milk
Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was performed on the energy supply ratio of the three nutrients and breast milk TAGs. As shown in Tables 3, MMM in breast milk was weakly positively correlated with carbohydrate energy supply ratio (P < 0.05), MML was strongly negatively correlated with protein energy supply ratio (P < 0.05), and weakly positively correlated with carbohydrate energy supply ratio (P < 0.05). The contents of MLCT and MLL in breast milk were strongly positively correlated with carbohydrate energy supply ratio (P < 0.05), strongly negatively correlated with protein energy supply ratio (P < 0.05), and weakly negatively correlated with fat energy supply ratio (P < 0.05). It also can be seen from Table 4 that the content of 8:0-MLL, 10:0-MLL and 12:0-MLL in breast milk of carbohydrate group was significantly higher than that of protein group (P < 0.05). In particular, 12:0-MLL in breast milk was strongly positively correlated with carbohydrate energy ratio (P < 0.01), strongly negatively correlated with protein energy ratio (P < 0.01), and weakly negatively correlated with fat energy ratio (P < 0.05). UPU was strongly positively correlated with protein energy ratio (P< 0.05), strongly negatively correlated with carbohydrate energy ratio (P < 0.05), and weakly positively correlated with fat energy ratio (P < 0.05).
The total content of MLCT and UPU in breast milk was not affected by dietary structure, indicating that the total content of MLCT and UPU in breast milk was relatively stable. Our previous study (Yu et al., 2022b) also pointed out that the sum of MLCT and UPU was not affected by region and lactation and remained stable. By changing the proportion of the three major nutrients in the diet, changes in the TAG composition of breast milk can be achieved, especially MLCT type TAG. In the face of infants with poor absorption of medium and long chain fatty acids or feeding intolerance, beneficial consequences can be produced by adjusting the mother ’s diet.