Riboflavin of Sow's Milk

Abstract

BRAUDE et al.^1,2 studied at Reading the vitamin content of colostrum and milk of Large White sows and obtained values for riboflavin around 0.5 µgm./ml., that is, some three to four times less than in cow's milk. They were admittedly surprised by such relatively low concentrations in the milk of an animal the young of which grow at a very rapid rate. The chemical method for riboflavin was that proved suitable for its measurement in cow's milk (Henry et al.³). Moreover, the observation of Braude et al.² that vitamin C in sow's milk and colostrum was relatively little affected by exposure to light supported the low analytical values for riboflavin, which is known to act as catalyst in the photochemical destruction of vitamin C ⁴.