Micro-Encapsulated LCPUFA Oils

Starting in late-stage pregnancy and throughout early life, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) like docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) accumulate in the brain’s grey matter during the brain’s growth spurt ⁶²Innis, S. M. (2008). Dietary omega 3 fatty acids and the developing brain. In Brain Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2008.08.078. Since the synthesis is limited in infants, the dietary intake of DHA and ARA is considered crucial in early life ⁵³Hadley, K. B., Ryan, A. S., Forsyth, S., Gautier, S., & Salem, N. (2016). The essentiality of arachidonic acid in infant development. In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8040216 ⁶¹Innis, S. M. (2007). Dietary (n-3) fatty acids and brain development. In Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/137.4.855. Breast milk provides all the necessary nutrients for infants, including the LCPUFAs DHA and ARA ¹⁸Brenna, J. T., Varamini, B., Jensen, R. G., Diersen-Schade, D. A., Boettcher, J. A., & Arterburn, L. M. (2007). Docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid concentrations in human breast milk worldwide. In American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/85.6.1457. These are well-known for their role in the development of the brain and visual function ⁸¹Koletzko, B., Boey, C. C. M., Campoy, C., Carlson, S. E., Chang, N., Guillermo-Tuazon, M. A., Joshi, S., Prell, C., Quak, S. H., Sjarif, D. R., Su, Y., Supapannachart, S., Yamashiro, Y., & Osendarp, S. J. M. (2014). Current information and asian perspectives on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy: Systematic review and practice recommendations from an early nutrition academy workshop. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365767 ⁸²Koletzko, B., Bergmann, K., Thomas Brenna, J., Calder, P. C., Campoy, C., Clandinin, M. T., Colombo, J., Daly, M., Decsi, T., Demmelmair, H., Domellöf, M., Fidlermis, N., Gonzalez-Casanova, I., Van Goudoever, J. B., Hadjipanayis, A., Hernell, O., Lapillonne, A., Mader, S., Martin, C. R., … Carlson, S. E. (2020). Should formula for infants provide arachidonic acid along with DHA? A position paper of the European Academy of Paediatrics and the Child Health Foundation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz252. Both DHA and ARA may play a beneficial role in immune development ¹²³Radzikowska, U., Rinaldi, A. O., Sözener, Z. Ç., Karaguzel, D., Wojcik, M., Cypryk, K., Akdis, M., Akdis, C. A., & Sokolowska, M. (2019). The influence of dietary fatty acids on immune responses. In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122990 ¹²⁸Richard, C., Lewis, E. D., & Field, C. J. (2016). Evidence for the essentiality of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid in the postnatal maternal and infant diet for the development of the infant’s immune system early in life. In Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2015-0660. Since LCPUFAs are sensitive to oxidation, micro-encapsulation of DHA and ARA in a powder matrix ensures nutritional and sensory stability over time in infant and young child formula products.