Comparison of the contents of fat-soluble nutrients and phospholipids in seven types of commercial infant formulas

This study was performed to investigate the contents of fat-soluble nutrients (tocopherols, retinol, carotenoids, fatty acids, and cholesterol) and phospholipids (PLs) in seven types (imported SPA, SPS, SFS, and SSI; and domestic MLM, MPM, and NIX) of commercial infant formulas (IFs). The contents of tocopherol and retinol activity equivalent (RAE) in the seven IFs were 1.42 - 3.86 mg α-TE·100 kcal^-1 and 64.90 - 144.95 ㎍ RAE·100 kcal^-1, respectively. The imported IFs contained high contents of lutein + zeaxanthin (29.68 - 32.49 ㎍·100 g^-1) and lycopene (71.80 - 93.28 ㎍·100 g^-1), while the domestic IFs did not contain lycopene. The contents of linoleic acid (C18:2) and α-linolenic acid (C18:3) in the seven IFs were also within the recommended ranges (C18:2, 300 - 1,400 mg·100 kcal^-1 and C18:3, over 50 mg·100 kcal^-1) of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The ratio of arachidonic acid (ARA, C20:4)/docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6) was 2.42 - 2.74 in the imported IFs and 0.96 - 1.08 in the domestic IFs. However, the DHA content of the domestic IFs (0.37 - 0.65 g·100 g^-1 fat%) was much higher than that of the imported IFs (0.16 - 0.18%). Total PL contents were 108.02 - 135.93 mg·100 kcal^-1 for the domestic IFs and 6.05 - 66.70 mg·100 kcal^-1 for the imported IFs. The main PLs of the domestic IFs were phosphatidyl choline (48.5 - 71.1% of total PLs), phosphatidyl ethanolamine (12.8 - 23.1%), phosphatidyl serine (7.0 - 11.6%), and sphingomyelin (4.3 - 21.5%).