ABSTRACT
There are many recent papers on the major lipid classes in human milk — triacylglycerols (TG), phospholipids, and sterols — but only two, and these are essentially identical, in which reliable data from detailed analyses of many classes are presented. The composition of TG is usually given as the kinds and amounts of fatty acids. The chapter provides a discussion on the dimension of structure. Structure is important because the TG molecules are presented as such to lipolytic enzymes and not as fatty acids. Structure is also one of the key factors which controls intestinal absorption of milk lipids. Most of the phospholipids are associated with the milk fat globule membrane in a surface film on the fat globules. The phospholipids originate from the membranes of the milk-secreting cells and locate at the surface of the extruded globule because of their bipolarity.
