Niacin, thiamin, and pantothenic acid bioavailability to humans from maize bran as affected by milling and particle size.

The objective of the project was to determine the bioavailability of selected B vitamins (niacin, pantothenic acid and thiamin) to humans from wet and dry milled maize brans which were coarsely or finely ground. Using a double cross-over design, the nine subjects were fed laboratory controlled diets containing unsupplemented bread or bread supplemented with finely ground, wet milled maize bran; coarsely ground, wet milled maize bran; finely ground, dry milled corn bran; or coarsely ground, dry milled maize bran. Subjects made complete collections of urine throughout the study which were analyzed for contents of the test vitamins. Although varying somewhat among vitamins, in general, better apparent bioavailability was achieved with the finely ground, dry milled maize bran than with the other test brans.