title: Longitudinal changes in Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, and Zn in breast milk of women in Taiwan over a lactation period of one year.
abstract: The study of the composition of human milk has attracted worldwide interest, since it represents the pattern of nutrients most suitable for the younger infant. In the present study, the concentration of Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, and Zn was measured in a total of 211 samples of human milk. The analytical technique of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used for the analysis. From the results, it indicates that the mean concentration of Zn is highest in the colostrum with decreasing concentrations as the lactation progressed. The effects of age, parity, and lactation history on the results are also analyzed. It shows that the Zn concentration in the colostrum in the older mothers (>30 yr) was higher than that of the younger ones (20-30 yr).
authors.affiliation: School of Technology for Medical Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jong
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008423:Maternal Age; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D010298:Parity; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014131:Trace Elements