March 2004, Volume 10 No. 1

ARTICLE 1

Vitamin C Content in Human Milk (Colostrum, Transitional and Mature) and Serum of a Sample of Bangladeshi Mothers

Luthfor Ahmed, SK. Nazrul Islam, Nazrul Islam Khan and Syeda Nilufer Nahid
Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
The vitamin C content of human milk was determined among twenty-six newly delivered mothers. Milk samples (colostrum, transitional and mature) were obtained at different stages of lactation. Mean vitamin C concentration varied from 3.52 ± 0.56 mg/dl for colostrum to 3.03 ± 0.67 mg/dl for mature milk with the advancement of time, but was in agreement with the infant’s daily requirement. Serum vitamin C of a sub-sample of mothers (n=7) was also estimated for a comparison of vitamin C concentration between maternal breastmilk and serum. Vitamin C level estimated in the serum was 0.44 ± 0.29 mg/dl, revealing an eight-fold lower concentration compared to the corresponding milk samples.

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