Camel milk fat-based human milk fat substitute

Human milk is the gold standard for infant nutrition. This study aimed to develop a camel milk fat-based human milk lipid mimetic whose fatty acid (FA) composition, structural properties, and in vitro digestibility more closely resemble those of human milk fat than conventional vegetable oil-based formulas. Camel milk (CM) fat was physically blended with sunflower, rapeseed, palm kernel, fish oils, and 1,3-dioleoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol using a computational optimization model to approximate the total and sn-2 FA profiles of Egyptian human milk. The resulting formulation, together with three commercial formulas and human milk, was compared for total and sn-2 FAs by gas chromatography, similarity indices, FTIR, DSC characteristics, and dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, including lipolysis degree and free FA release. IFCM contained 29 detectable fatty acids, matching human milk and exceeding commercial formulas ( ≤ 19), and reduced fatty acid mismatches with human milk to 11 vs. 12–19 in commercial products. Total saturated fatty acids reached 50.99%, and sn-2 palmitic acid 34.76%, closer to human milk than in commercial formulas. Intestinal lipolysis at 120 min was 66.47% for IFCM vs. 69.93% for human milk and 60.28%−65.43% for commercial formulas, while FTIR and DSC profiles of IFCM aligned more closely with human milk than with vegetable oil-based formulas. Combining CM fat with selected oils resulted in an infant formula with improved compositional and structural resemblance to human milk fat, as well as enhanced in vitro lipid digestion, compared to conventional formulas. IFCM represents a promising candidate human milk fat mimetic, warranting in vivo evaluation of its effects on infant growth, mineral absorption, and metabolic outcomes.