Evidence · Peer-reviewed

Don't just take our word for it

Researchers around the world have studied how freeze-drying affects human milk since the 1950s. Milk banks and hospitals use the technique today to preserve the nutrition and bioactives in donor milk. This is that body of work, collected in one place.

38 Published studies
1953 Earliest research
6 Areas of study
70+ Years of evidence

Showing 38 of 38 studies

Nutrients

15

Fats, proteins, vitamins and trace elements — how each survives freeze-drying, and how storage time affects them.

2024 Laboratory scale production of a powdered, multi-nutrient human milk fortifierInternational Dairy Journal 2021 Human milk: processing and conservation – a reviewResearch, Society and Development 2021 Combination of High-Pressure Processing and Freeze-Drying as the Most Effective Techniques in Maintaining Biological Values and Microbiological Safety of Donor MilkPubMed Central 2020 Essential and toxic elements in human milk concentrate with human milk lyophilizate: A preclinical studyScienceDirect 2019 Evaluation of the Lipid Quality of Lyophilized Pasteurized Human Milk for Six Months by GC-FID and ESI-MSSciELO 2019 Development of a human milk concentrate with human milk lyophilizate for feeding very low birth weight preterm infants: A preclinical experimental studyPLOS ONE 2018 Human milk enriched with human milk lyophilisate for feeding very low birth weight preterm infants: A preclinical experimental study focusing on fatty acid profilePLOS ONE 2018 The freeze-drying does not influence the proteomic profiles of human milkTaylor & Francis 2018 Lipids and Fatty Acids in Human Milk: Benefits and AnalysisIntechOpen 2017 The Effect of Lyophilization on Selected Biologically Active Components (Vitamin C, Catalase, Lysozyme), Total Antioxidant Capacity and Lipid Oxidation in Human Milkwydawnictwo.pttz.org 2016 Effect of Pasteurization, Freeze-drying and Spray Drying on the Fat Globule and Lipid Profile of Human Milkpubs.sciepub.com 2016 The Effect of Freeze-Drying on the Nutrient, Polyphenol, and Oxidant Levels of Breast MilkPubMed Central 2014 Vitamins, fatty acids, and antioxidant capacity stability during storage of freeze-dried human milkTaylor & Francis 1995 Ultrasonication, Lyophilization, Freezing and Storage Effects on Fat Loss during Mechanical Infusion of Expressed Human MilkWiley 1983 Evaluation of Freeze-Drying, Pasteurization, High-Temperature Heating and Storage on Selected Enzymes, B-Vitamins and Lipids of Mature Human MilkJ. Food Protection

Immune Factors

5

Immunoglobulins, lysozyme, lactoferrin and cytokines — the immune-active proteins in milk, and how much of each survives processing.

Probiotics/Pre-biotics (HMOs)

6

Live cultures, human milk oligosaccharides and glycoproteins — the probiotic and prebiotic components that seed and feed an infant's developing gut.

Clinical Studies

4

Freeze-dried human milk used with real infants — fortification, tolerance and growth outcomes in preterm and medically complex babies.

Microbial Safety

4

Bacterial safety and the milk's own antibacterial activity — what freeze-drying does to both, next to pasteurization and irradiation.

Historical Studies

4

The original mid-century work establishing that human milk could be freeze-dried and stored — some of it seventy years old.

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This library collects published research on freeze-drying human milk. Most of these studies are independent of Milkify and describe freeze-drying in general rather than Milkify's SafeDry™ process specifically. The 2026 case report in AJP Reports is an exception: it describes an infant fed milk processed with SafeDry™ and was co-authored by Milkify staff. Last reviewed July 2026.