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Omega-3 Milk

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Abstract

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is important constituent in human breast milk. Omega-3-fatty acid (n-3-FA) plays an important role in infants post birth development; omega-3-fatty acids are obtained from breast milk. Traditionally, cattle grazed in the field and get some omega-3 fatty acid from the green pastures. However, now, they are fed with defined diet solely for getting high milk yield, which resulted in deficiency in omega-3 fatty acid in milk. Various attempts have been made to fortify food products with omega-3 fatty acid. Fortification of food with n-3-FA may offer an effective way of increasing omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intakes. Recent data indicate that blend of dairy lipids and omega-3-fatty acid from vegetarian oil, can potentiate higher levels of n-3 LC-PUFA levels endogenously. Enriching cattle milk by feeding omega-3-rich cattle feed is also not straight forward. Biofortification is not possible and is met with a biological hurdle in the cattle, as they are ruminants. Several attempts have been made to fortify milk with omega-3 fatty acid or preparation of omega-3-fortified formula milk for infants. Further this chapter reviews crucial role of omega-3-milk in human health especially in mother and child health.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

Alpha-linolenic acid

n-3-FA:

Omega-3 fatty acid

n-3 LC-PUFA:

Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid

LA:

Linoleic acid

EFAs:

Essential fatty acids

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

AA:

Arachidonic acid

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Innovation in Nutrition Health Disease, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs, Medical College Campus, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Dhankawadi, Pune, 411043, India

    Anand Arvind Zanwar, Yogesh S. Badhe, Prakash B. Ghorpade & Mahabaleshwar V. Hegde

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Paud Road, Erandwane, Pune, 411 038, Maharashtra, India

    Subhash L. Bodhankar

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  1. Anand Arvind Zanwar
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  2. Yogesh S. Badhe
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  3. Subhash L. Bodhankar
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  4. Prakash B. Ghorpade
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  5. Mahabaleshwar V. Hegde
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Correspondence to Anand Arvind Zanwar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Real Nutrition Laboratory, Bharati Vidyapeeth University Real Nutrition Laboratory, Dhankawadi, India

    Mahabaleshwar V. Hegde

  2. Center for Innovation in Nutrition Health Disease, Bharati Vidyapeeth University , Dhankawadi Pune, India

    Anand Arvind Zanwar

  3. Western IRB Medical Vice Chair, Puyallup, Washington, USA

    Sharad P. Adekar

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Zanwar, A.A., Badhe, Y.S., Bodhankar, S.L., Ghorpade, P.B., Hegde, M.V. (2016). Omega-3 Milk. In: Hegde, M., Zanwar, A., Adekar, S. (eds) Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40458-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40458-5_4

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