Vitamin E Content of Milk, Milk Products, and Simulated Milks: Relevance to Infant Nutrition

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Milk, milk products, and simulated milks were analyzed by column chromatography on MgHPO4 or thin-layer chromatography on alumina to establish α-tocopherol levels, and by gas-liquid chromatography to determine polyunsaturated fatty acids. Human milk contained an average of 1.14 mg α-tocopherol/quart whether frozen-fresh, lyophilized, or pasteurized. The α-tocopherol content of homogenized cow’s milk varied from about 0.21 mg/quart in early spring to about 1.06 mg/quart in mid-fall. Raw milk showed a similar pattern. Bovine colostrum contained about seven times as much α-tocopherol as milk taken 1 or 2 weeks postpartum. Evaporated, condensed, and nonfat dry milks supplied about 0.66, 1.29, and 0.02 mg α-tocopherol/reconstituted quart, respectively. Vitamin E levels in liquid and powdered simulated milks varied from 3.46 to 6.80 mg/reconstituted quart in standard formulas and from 2.30 to 7.67 mg/reconstituted quart in hypoallergenic formulas, depending primarily on the vegetable oil used and whether or not the product was fortified. Polyunsaturated fatty acid varied from about 4% of fatty acids in cow’s milk to about 50% of fatty acids in hypoallergenic milks. The adequacy for infant nutrition of the α-tocopherol content in milks, milk products, and simulated milks may depend as much on the relative content of polyunsaturated fatty acids as on the absolute level of α-tocopherol.