New ingredients in infant formula. Health and functional benefits / Nuevos ingredientes en fórmulas infantiles. Beneficios sanitarios y funcionales

There is an increasing body of evidence about the effect that early nutrition and lifestyle could have on the programming of later health and disease. Infant formula must cover all the nutritional needs to promote adequate infant growth and development. Currently, important research efforts have been made to supplement infant formulae with new bioactive ingredients with health benefits for the infant. The milk fat globule membrane is one of the new ingredients, which provides phospholipids and gangliosides, as well as bioactive proteins. In addition, ingredients such as probiotics and prebiotics modulate intestinal microbiota and contribute to improve gastrointestinal health. Other ingredients relevant in infant formulas are long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, α-lactalbumin and nucleotides. Recent research studies have demonstrated that adding these ingredients to infant formulas improves cognitive development and decreases the number of infections and allergies in infants. However, more studies are needed to find if these effects are long lasting and can be seen in childhood and adulthood.

Existe cada vez mayor evidencia científica de que la nutrición temprana y el estilo de vida tienen un efecto de programación sobre la salud y el riesgo de enfermedad futura. Las fórmulas infantiles deben cubrir los requerimientos nutricionales y promover un crecimiento y desarrollo correcto de los lactantes. Actualmente, un ámbito de innovación importante consiste en el aporte de componentes bioactivos capaces de aportar beneficios funcionales al lactante. Uno de los nuevos ingredientes es la membrana del glóbulo graso lácteo, que aporta componentes como fosfolípidos y gangliósidos, así como proteínas bioactivas. Además, ingredientes como probióticos y prebióticos actúan como moduladores de la microbiota intestinal y contribuyen a mejorar la salud gastrointestinal. Otros componentes relevantes en fórmulas infantiles son los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados de cadena larga, la α-lactoalbúmina y los nucleótidos. Estudios recientes demuestran que la adición de estos ingredientes a las fórmulas infantiles mejora el desarrollo cognitivo y reduce la incidencia de infecciones y alergias en los lactantes. Nuevos estudios de seguimiento a largo plazo son necesarios para valorar si los efectos observados son duraderos y se mantienen en etapas posteriores de la vida.

Nuevos ingredientes en fórmulas infantiles. Beneficios sanitarios y funcionales / New ingredients in infant formula. Health and functional benefits

Existe cada vez mayor evidencia científica de que la nutrición temprana y el estilo de vida tienen un efecto de programación sobre la salud y el riesgo de enfermedad futura. Las fórmulas infantiles deben cubrir los requerimientos nutricionales y promover un crecimiento y desarrollo correcto de los lactantes. Actualmente, un ámbito de innovación importante consiste en el aporte de componentes bioactivos capaces de aportar beneficios funcionales al lactante. Uno de los nuevos ingredientes es la membrana del glóbulo graso lácteo, que aporta componentes como fosfolípidos y gangliósidos, así como proteínas bioactivas. Además, ingredientes como probióticos y prebióticos actúan como moduladores de la microbiota intestinal y contribuyen a mejorar la salud gastrointestinal. Otros componentes relevantes en fórmulas infantiles son los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados de cadena larga, la α-lactoalbúmina y los nucleótidos. Estudios recientes demuestran que la adición de estos ingredientes a las fórmulas infantiles mejora el desarrollo cognitivo y reduce la incidencia de infecciones y alergias en los lactantes. Nuevos estudios de seguimiento a largo plazo son necesarios para valorar si los efectos observados son duraderos y se mantienen en etapas posteriores de la vida (AU)

There is an increasing body of evidence about the effect that early nutrition and lifestyle could have on the programming of later health and disease. Infant formula must cover all the nutritional needs to promote adequate infant growth and development. Currently, important research efforts have been made to supplement infant formulae with new bioactive ingredients with health benefits for the infant. The milk fat globule membrane is one of the new ingredients, which provides phospholipids and gangliosides, as well as bioactive proteins. In addition, ingredients such as probiotics and prebiotics modulate intestinal microbiota and contribute to improve gastrointestinal health. Other ingredients relevant in infant formulas are long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, α-lactalbumin and nucleotides. Recent research studies have demonstrated that adding these ingredients to infant formulas improves cognitive development and decreases the number of infections and allergies in infants. However, more studies are needed to find if these effects are long lasting and can be seen in childhood and adulthood (AU)

[The importance of functional ingredients in pediatric milk formulas and cereals]. / La importancia de los ingredientes funcionales en las leches y cereales infantiles.

Feeding during the first months of life has a decisive influence not only in early developmental phases of children but also in their long-term health. Therefore, inclusion of new functional ingredients to pediatric milk formulas is, nowadays, the matter of a number of studies, incorporating day-by-day newer products and more similar to human milk, the gold standard, which contains them in a natural way. Nowadays, technological advances have made possible to obtain these ingredients from animal or vegetal sources for their addition into pediatric milk formulas and cereals. In the present article, the main functional ingredients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, palmitate, nucleotides, pre- and probiotic oligosaccharides, carnitine and taurine are reviewed with regards to their nutritional and functional interest in infant feeding. Their incorporation in pediatric foods has been possible after carrying out animal and clinical studies that provide a solid scientific basis which guaranties their proper bioavailability and their efficacy in the newborn. In the future years, thanks to a better understanding of maternal milk composition and to the performance of further studies, it will be possible to add new ingredients that will allow to obtain pediatric milk formulas more and more similar to maternal milk from a nutritional and functional point of view.