COLOR-REACTIVE DIAGNOSTIC FOR AT-HOME BREASTMILK SHELF-LIFE TESTING

Major goals of the project are to develop a diagnostic test kit capable of measuring the following in breastmilk:1) the propensity for fat breakdown (i.e., lipase levels), 2) fat breakdown/rancidity in stored breastmilk (i.e., glycerol levels), and 3) vitamin C content.To achieve these goals, this project will involve characterization of human breastmilk samples to define the relevant concentrations for lipase, glycerol, and vitamin C that determine breastmilk shelf-life, fat content, rancidity status, and essential vitamin C content, respectively. Regarding development and validation of the three test kits (i.e., for lipase, glycerol, and vitamin C), we aim for the kits to produce accurate readouts within 2 minutes over a range of concentrations of the three test components. Accuracy of the readouts will be validated against results from standardlaboratory-grade assays, targeting demonstrations of statistical similarity (p<0.05) in the measurements from our colorimetric test kits and the laboratory-grade assays. We also aim to demonstrate low standard error between predicted and actual values for breastmilk shelf-life (SE<8%), fat content (SE<5%), and vitamin C deficiency levels (SE<12%).