American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 23, 141-146, Copyright © 1970 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Availability of Milk Folate

Studies with Cow's Milk in Experimental Folic Acid Deficiency

¹ From the Department of Medicine, Universidad del Valle School of Medicine, Cali, Colombia, South America, and Nutrition Section, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans

The availability to man of cow's milk folate (as assayed with the L. casei method) was studied in two infants who had megaloblastic anemia due to nutritional folic acid deficiency. The subjects responded to a milk diet that provided 15 and 35 µg of folic acid activity (FAA) per day, respectively. Megaloblastosis recurred when they were subsequently placed on a milk diet devoid of FAA. A hematological response was again obtained with the administration of pteroylglutamic acid (PGA), in daily doses of 15 and 35 µg/day, respectively. Thus, the man-L. casei availability ratio of milk folate would appear to be 1:1.

The growth curve of the infants was not affected by the folic acid-free diet nor by the subsequent administration of PGA. This finding suggests that the daily amount of folate necessary for adequate growth is less than the amount required for normal bone marrow function.