Abstract:Lutein in human breast milk plays an important role in the development of vision and cognitive function in infants. In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used to determine the composition and contents of lutein and lutein esters in human breast milk at different childbearing ages and lactation stages. Finally, lutein and 16 lutein esters in human breast milk were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. It was found that there was a strong positive correlation between lutein and lutein esters contents (Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.721). The contents of lutein and lutein esters in human breast milk in the age-appropriate group (childbearing age < 35 years) was similar to that in the elder age group (childbearing age≥35 years), and the difference between the two was not significant (P>0.05), which can be known that the childbearing age has little effect on the contents of lutein and lutein esters in human breast milk. The contents of lutein and lutein esters decreased gradually with the extension of lactation period, and the content of both in colostrum was the highest. The average content of lutein reaching 183.78 μg/L and the average content of lutein esters reaching 45.89 μg/L. There were 10, 14 and 6 kinds of lutein estersdetected from colostrum, transitional milk and mature milk, respectively. The content of lutein palmitate-stearate was the highest in the whole lactation period, followed by lutein distearate. The research results can provide a certain experimental and theoretical basis for the research of human milk components and development of infant food.