Techniques for the storage of human breast milk 

What is it about?

Storage of human breast milk by freezing or refrigeration with and without heating has been recommend. This can hardly be avoided because of the social circumstances of most mothers who are regularly separated from their infants because of work or schooling as well as the particular needs of some preterm or sick babies to be fed with expressed breast milk.

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Why is it important?

The greatest fear that has hampered the prospects of in-vitro milk storage for any considerable period of time is the possibility of bacteria contamination and growth of infectious pathogens in the stored milk, making them unsafe for human consumption. The expressed fears arising from the increased titratable acidity of such stored milk samples have been unfounded, since it has been shown to be mainly due to levels of free fatty acids, rather than lactic acid, which might have been produced by bacterial fermentation of milk sugars.

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