Effect of pulsed electric field on human milk processing

Mother’s milk and breastfeeding are recognized as the natural and sustainable source for the optimal growth and development of the infants. However, when the biological mother’s own milk is not available for the infants, donor human milk from human milk bank is the only alternative suggested by world health organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Holder pasteurization (62.5 °C for 30 minutes) is the widely adopted method and is currently recommended in all international mother’s milk bank guidelines but it affects the bioactive components present in mother’s milk. The present study was carried out using pulsed electric field (PEF) technology, which is one of the novel, non – thermal technology to process human milk samples. The effect of PEF on physicochemical properties (pH and acidity) and fat content on donor human milk before and after PEF processing were determined. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in pH, acidity and fat content of raw milk and PEF processed milk. High significant difference (P