Low Niacin Concentration in the Breast Milk of Bantu Mothers on a High-Maize Diet

Abstract

GOLDSMITH and co-workers¹ prepared wheat and maize diets containing equal, though relatively small, amounts of niacin and tryptophan, 4.7 and 190 mgm. per diem respectively; when fed to human subjects, only those consuming the maize diet developed pellagra. In view of this abnormality of metabolism on the maize diet, it has been considered worth while to investigate whether a diet containing this cereal causes any abnormality in the concentrations of niacin and tryptophan in breast milk. Available information suggests that the level of niacin in the breast milk of White mothers is relatively independent of dietary intake². In South Africa, however, Kropman³ found twelve Bantu breast milks to contain an average of 108 µgm. niacin per 100 ml.; this average is low in comparison with the mean value of 183 µgm. obtained for the milks of 268 American mothers⁴. Kropman³, unfortunately, provided no dietary information on the mothers concerned—an important point in the present issue, since the consumption of maize by the Bantu varies enormously, one report giving a range of 6–20 oz. per diem for urban dwellers⁵.