Breast milk tocopherol content during the first six months in exclusively breastfeeding Greek women

To determine tocopherol and fat content of Greek mother's milk during the first 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding and correlate with maternal diet characteristics.

Milk samples and dietary records were obtained by mothers at 1st (n = 64), 3rd (n = 39) and 6th (n = 23) month postpartum. Milk tocopherol content was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC) and fat content by the crematocrit method.

Milk's α-tocopherol content at 1st, 3rd and 6th month postpartum was 8.3 ± 3.4, 8.1 ± 4.2 and 8.5 ± 4.7 μmol/L, while total tocopherol values were 8.9 ± 3.6, 8.7 ± 4.6 and 9.5 ± 5.6 μmol/L, respectively, and were closely related to milk's fat content. No significant differences were observed for α- and total tocopherol content in breast milk among the three time points. Maternal vitamin E dietary intake was 7.2 ± 3.7, 6.8 ± 3.5 and 10.9 ± 5.2 mg/day at 1st, 3rd and 6th month postpartum, respectively. Though vitamin E dietary intake was less than the recommended one, vitamin E content in breast milk was considered sufficient for infant needs. Milk tocopherol content was found to be associated only with mothers' total fat and saturated fat dietary intake.

This study is among few in literature to determine tocopherol content of breast milk in European women and detect dietary factors that may influence its values. The only maternal dietary characteristic to affect breast milk tocopherol content was mothers' total fat intake, while tocopherol intake seems to have no effect.