The newborn infant is known to have innate preferences for sweet and salty tastes, often rejecting bitter and sour tastes and new foods. During the first two years of life, an infant learns food preferences and so experiences with many different foods and flavours are therefore important for later food acceptance.

Studies have shown that breast-fed infants learn from dietary flavour cues present in their mother's milk and that breast-fed infants have a higher acceptance of a novel food than bottle-fed infants. It has been suggested that mother's milk has a more diverse flavour composition than infant formula milk as it reflects the maternal diet. However, there is little information about the volatile flavour constituents in human milk and different varieties of infant formula.

A direct relationship between maternal ingestion of volatile compounds and breast milk flavour has been shown for dietary compounds such as garlic extract and carrot juice. The volatile profiles of infant formula milks have been more systematically studied than those of human milk, with aldehydes, ketonses and alcohols being predominant. Some studies have shown human milk to have fruity, sour and earthy flavour descriptions compared with milky and caramelised flavour cues for formula milks. More knowledge is therefore required to compare the early sensory exposures of formula- and breast-fed infants.

A study by Hausner et al.¹ investigated and characterised the volatile profiles of breast milk and infant formula milks using headspace sampling and analysis. Volatile profiles were compared at different sampling times and between mothers and between different formula types (liquid and powder) and brands. Both human and formula milks were rich in lipid-derived volatile compounds, including alcohols and carbonyl compounds. Formula milks contained more volatiles relating to thermal treatment while human milk contained a higher variety of terpenes, reflecting maternal diet. Breast-fed infants were therefore exposed to a wider variety of volatile compounds compared with formula-fed infants, especially those always consuming the same brand.
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¹ Hausner, H; Philpsen, M; Skov, TH; Petersen, MA; Bredic, WLP (2009). Characterization of the volatile composition and variations between infant formulas and mother's milk. Chemical Perception 2 (2) 79-93.

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