Tandem Mass Spectrometric Analysis and Cross-Species Comparison of Triacylglycerol Regioisomers in Mammalian Milk - UTU Research Portal

A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Tandem Mass Spectrometric Analysis and Cross-Species Comparison of Triacylglycerol Regioisomers in Mammalian Milk

Authors: Zhao, Qizhu; Fabritius, Mikael; Kalpio, Marika; Al Sazzad, Md Abdullah; Yang, Baoru

Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Publication year: 2026

Journal: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Volume: 74

Issue: 1

First page : 1410

Last page: 1421

ISSN: 0021-8561

eISSN: 1520-5118

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5c08520

Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access

Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel

Web address : https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5c08520

Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508477723

Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY

Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF

Abstract

Milk fats have complex profiles of triacylglycerols (TG) with a significant gap in understanding the species-specific compositions of regioisomers. This study comprehensively analyzed TG regioisomers in milk of eight mammalian species using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and a calculation algorithm. Distinct TG regioisomer profiles were observed across species, shaped by the phylogenetic status and the structure of digestive tracts (ruminants, pseudo-ruminants, and non-ruminants). The ruminants (cow, goat, and sheep) exhibited highly similar milk TG regioisomeric profiles, while the pseudo-ruminant (camel) showed similar profiles to those of the non-ruminants (dog, horse, human, and pig). The non-ruminants showed a sn-2 abundance of palmitic acid in milk TGs; especially dog and pig milk displayed TG regioisomer profiles close to that of human milk. These findings provide novel insights into cross-species variation in lipid metabolism and the nutritional properties of milk fats, supporting product development for food and early life nutrition.

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Funding information in the publication:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Research Council of Finland (Decision No. 356891, Structures and functions of chiral lipids: A stereospecific and multiomics approach), Business Finland (Decision No. 1675/31/2023), the Research Council of Finland’s research infrastructure funding (Decision No. 337980), the European Union-NextGenerationEU instrument funding (RRF) for the FOODNUTRI National Infrastructure Network (Decision No. 345916), the Finland-China Food and Health Network, and the China Scholarship Council.