Lipid and retinol contents in the milk of Egyptian mothers with normal and sick infants.

Mature breast milk was collected from Egyptian lactating mothers (N = 35) and was analyzed for its lipid, retinol and carotene contents. Mean values of 3.78 +/- 0.3%, 29.5 +/- 4.92 micrograms/100 g and 65.2 +/- 16.28 micrograms/100 g were obtained for lipid, retinol and carotene in the milk of mothers with normal infants. The milk of mothers with sick infants was inferior in its quality with respect to the lipid and retinol contents. Milk retinol level correlated significantly with the growth of the normal infants.