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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #285312
Title: Analyzing B-vitamins in human milk: methodological approaches

Author
item HAMPEL, DANIELA - University Of California, Davis
item Allen, Lindsay - A

Submitted to: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/28/2016
Publication Date: 5/3/2016
Citation: Hampel, D., Allen, L.H. 2016. Analyzing B-vitamins in human milk: methodological approaches. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 56:494-511. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2013.783550.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2013.783550

Interpretive Summary: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. However, there is insufficient information about the concentration of nutrients in human milk. For some nutrients, including B-vitamins, maternal intake affects their concentration in human milk but the extent to which inadequate maternal diets affect milk B-vitamin content is poorly documented. Little is known about infant requirements for B-vitamins. Recommended intakes are generally set as Adequate Intakes (AI) calculated based on the mean volume of milk (assumed to be 0.78 L/day) consumed by exclusively breastfed infants of well-nourished mothers during the first six months postpartum, multiplied by the concentration of each vitamin in milk based on reported values. Methods used for analyzing B-vitamins, which were commonly microbiological, radioisotope dilution or more recently chromatographic coupled with UV, fluorometric and MS detection, have rarely been validated for the complex human milk matrix. Thus the validity, accuracy, and sensitivity of analytical methods is important for understanding both infant requirements for these nutrients, and the maternal intakes needed to support adequate concentrations in breast milk. This review summarizes current knowledge about methods used for analyzing the B-vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid, vitamin B-12, folate, biotin, and choline in human milk, their chemical and physical properties, the different forms and changes in concentration during lactation, and the effects of deficiency on the infant.

Technical Abstract: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. However, there is insufficient information about the concentration of nutrients in human milk. For some nutrients, including B-vitamins, maternal intake affects their concentration in human milk but the extent to which inadequate maternal diets affect milk B-vitamin content is poorly documented. Little is known about infant requirements for B-vitamins; recommendations are generally set as Adequate Intakes (AI) calculated based on the mean volume of milk (0.78L/day) consumed by infants exclusively fed with human milk from well-nourished mothers during the first six months, and the concentration of each vitamin in milk based on reported values. Methods used for analyzing B-vitamins, commonly microbiological, radioisotope dilution or more recently chromatographic, coupled with UV, fluorometric and MS detection, have rarely been validated for the complex human milk matrix. Thus the validity, accuracy and sensitivity of analytical methods is important for understanding infant requirements for these nutrients, the maternal intakes needed to support adequate concentrations in breast milk. This review summarizes current knowledge on methods used for analyzing the B-vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid, vitamin B-12, folate, biotin, and choline in human milk, their chemical and physical properties, the different forms and changes in concentration during lactation, and the effects of deficiency on the infant.