Pantothenic acid content of human milk

One day diets were recorded by 22 lactating women 1 to 6 months postpartum. Pantothenic acid content of the diets was estimated using a published table of pantothenic acid values for foods. The mean pantothenic acid intake of the lactating women was 7.6 mg/day over the 6 month period. The day after diet recording the women collected two samples of breast milk during the first feeding of the day after 5 AM. The first sample was obtained at the beginning of the feed (fore milk) and the second at the end of the feed (hind milk). The pantothenic acid in the milk was determined by microbiological assay using Lactobacillus plantarum, after prior treatment of the milk with intestinal phosphatase and pigeon liver extract to free bound pantothenic acid. There was no significant difference between the pantothenic acid level of fore milk and hind milk. The average panthothenic acid in the milk was 6.7 μg/ml. No change occurred in the concentration of panthothenic acid in the milk from 1 to 6 months postpartum. There was a significant (p<0.005), positive correlation (r = 0.51) between the pantothenic acid in the diet of the mother the day preceding milk collection and the pantothenic acid content of the milk.