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Transmission infrared spectroscopy for rapid quantification of fat, protein, and lactose concentrations in human milk

Journal of Perinatology volume 38, pages 1685–1693 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To develop partial least squares regression (PLSR) calibration models in combination with transmission infrared (TIR) spectroscopy for rapid and optimal quantification of human milk macronutrient concentrations.

Study design

Human milk samples (n = 306) were characterized simultaneously by reference chemical analytical methods and TIR spectroscopy. Reference macronutrient concentrations were linked to pre-processed spectra and divided into two (training and test) sets. PLSR was used to develop trial calibration models using training set, and the test set was used to assess the accuracy of the trial analytical methods.

Results

For the methods selected as optimal, the concordance correlation coefficients between reference and TIR-based methods were 0.93 for fat, 0.96 for protein, and 0.52 for lactose. The Bland-Altman plots showed no evidence of systematic bias between TIR and reference methods.

Conclusions

TIR spectroscopy provides the basis for accurate and rapid quantification of human milk fat and protein concentrations but is less accurate for measuring lactose concentration.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Cynthia Mitchell for her technical assistance and Stephanie Morrison, nurse research assistant, Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In addition, the authors thank Amy Vickers and Shaina Starks of the Mother’s Milk Bank of North Texas, USA for providing samples for this project. This research was funded by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (AIF: 195174). IE is supported by a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship (IT09473).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada

    Ibrahim Elsohaby, J. Trenton McClure & Christopher B. Riley

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Animal Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig City, Sharkia Province, Egypt

    Ibrahim Elsohaby

  3. School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Christopher B. Riley

  4. Faculty of Nursing, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada

    Janet Bryanton

  5. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, PE, Canada

    Kathryn Bigsby

  6. National Research Council of Canada, Medical Devices Research Center, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    R. Anthony Shaw

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  1. Ibrahim Elsohaby
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Correspondence to Ibrahim Elsohaby.

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Elsohaby, I., McClure, J.T., Riley, C.B. et al. Transmission infrared spectroscopy for rapid quantification of fat, protein, and lactose concentrations in human milk. J Perinatol 38, 1685–1693 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-018-0233-5

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