Symposium review: The relevance of bovine milk phospholipids in human nutrition-Evidence of the effect on infant gut and brain development

This paper reflects the concepts reviewed during the presentation in the Joint MILK/Lactation Biology Symposium at the ADSA 2018 Annual Meeting. Our intention is to update the concepts and advances in the area of research regarding milk phospholipids or polar lipid fraction as part of a dairy ingredient used today in nutritional studies that focus on gut health as well as brain development of infants. Although processing advances have allowed the production of novel ingredients rich in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) components, mostly monitored by phospholipid concentration and presence of membrane proteins, there is wide variability in their composition and structure. Furthermore, we aimed to include in the phospholipid fraction of milk nanovesicles designated as milk exosomes, which are secreted into milk by different secretion mechanisms than those of the fat globules but are also made up of a unique mixture of polar lipids. We consider imperative the study of polar lipid-derived structures from milk regarding composition and structure to gain insights into their biological effect in human health. Nevertheless, and tolerating the differences in composition and concentration of their components, studies supplementing the diet of infants with polar lipids (i.e., MFGM components) have shown significant advances in several areas of human health and well-being. Here we present a summary of the important components of MFGM and milk exosomes as well as an overview of the effects on gut health and brain and cognitive development when added to the diet of infants.