Human Milk Preservation and Pasteurization using Rapid Thermal Control of Liquids

Human milk (HM) provides the critical nutritional composition and non-nutritive bioactive factors that promote the healthy development of infants. HM is often stored by refrigeration or freezing and then thawed and/or warmed to body temperature (37 oC) prior to serving. Additionally, HM provided by a milk bank is required to undergo pasteurization. All these processes create opportunities for degradation of vital HM components that can reduce its value for the health and growth of babies. Although there have been studies considering the impact of processing on certain HM components, conditions and conclusions vary widely. We will execute a rigorously controlled and comprehensive analysis of the response of a wide array of HM components to standard pasteurization protocols, freeze/thaw methods, and rewarming approaches. This is significant because it will provide clear guidance on HM handling of this entire process to maximize preservation of important milk components. Another innovation of the proposal is that it will characterize effectiveness of our unique Rapid Thermal Control of Liquids (RealCooL) platform technology invented by our group to control temperature and preserve HM components. RealCooL is capable of more spatially-uniform temperature, 20-fold increased cooling rate, and 18-fold increased heating rate compared to conventional methods of thermal processing. We hypothesize that current processing methods cause degradation of HM components and that RealCooL will enhance preservation of HM. To test our hypothesis, we will execute the following specific aims. Aim 1: Determine the effect of standard thermal processing methods on HM composition. This aim provides a comprehensive and standardized assessment of the impact of thermal processing methods by commercially- available devices (refrigerator, freezer, pasteurizer, and bottle warmer) on selected HM components. We will measure somatic cell count, lactoferrin, lysozyme, lipase, sIgA, IgM, IgG, interleukins, and bacteria in raw milk and milk that has undergone a range of heating and cooling processing characteristic of procedures used at home, milk banks, hospital nurseries, and daycares. The impact of individual and combined processes will be documented. Aim 2: Determine the effect of RealCooL thermal processing methods on HM composition. This aim will evaluate our innovative RealCooL system that rapidly and precisely pasteurizes, thaws, cools, and rewarms milk by directly warming and cooling it using a heat exchanger with a novel control system. We will evaluate its capability to execute desired processing of HM with a single device compared to separate traditional devices used in Aim 1. This project is impactful because knowledge gained will include the potential degradation of HM components for both standard thermal processing methods as well as the novel RealCooL system. Results will guide the development of improved devices and processing standards to optimize the quality of HM that is provided to babies, ensuring they receive maximum value which should result in better nutrition and growth. Project Number: 1R21HD118567-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: Christopher Rylander (+3 co-PIs) | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, AUSTIN, TX | Award Amount: $418,123 | Activity Code: R21 | Study Section: Nutrition and Metabolism in Health and Disease Study Section[NMHD] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R21HD11856701A1