Abstract
The selenium content of human milk, cow's milk and cow's milk infant formula were estimated by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The highest values were found in 3 samples of human colostrum (524–865×10-9 g/g dry weight). There was a significant decrease with increasing time post partum. Mature human milk exhibited a selenium content of 230±79×10-9 g/g dry weight.
The selenium content of 45 samples of cow's milk from the north-western area of Germany was 200±39×10-9 g/g dry weight. While there was no significant difference between the values of mature human milk and of cow's milk, cow's milk infant formula exhibited significantly (P<0.01) lower values than human milk. The average selenium content of 107 samples of 10 different commercially available fluid and powdered cow's milk infant formulas (range: 18–171×10-9 g/g dry weight) amounted to about only one third of that in mature human milk.
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Lombeck, I., Kasperek, K., Bonnermann, B. et al. Selenium content of human milk, cow's milk and cow's milk infant formulas. Eur J Pediatr 129, 139–145 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00442157
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00442157