Volatile compounds of human milk

Volatile flavor compounds of human milk have been investigated comparing to commercial cow milk. Volatiles from the milks were isolated by simultaneous steam distillation-extraction (SDE) under reduced pressure using diethyl ether as a solvent. The odor concentrates were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Identified compounds from the human milk included 6 esters, 13 ketones, 6 fatty acids, 2 lactones, 24 aliphatic aldehydes, 9 alcohols, 18 hydrocarbons, and 6 miscellaneous compounds. The composition of volatile compounds was quite different from that of the cow milk. Of the volatiles in the human milk the primary important class was aldehydes, and the secondary one was volatile fatty acids.