Content of Lipid Nutrients in the Milk of Fulani Women

Abstract

Little is known about the nutrition of the infants of the Fulani, migratory nomads of the western Sahel of Africa. Milk was collected from 18 Fulani women 10 to 30 days postpartum and the fatty acid compositions of the triacylglycerol and phospholipid fractions were determined by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. De novo fatty acids (10:0-14:0) comprised 36.3 +/- 12.7% of fatty acids of the triacylglycerols. Compared to the milk of various populations worldwide, the milk of the Fulani women contained adequate proportions of alpha-linolenic acid (0.50 +/- 0.16%) and arachidonic acid (0.42 +/- 0.22%), but relatively low amounts of linoleic acid (9.95 +/- 2.13%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (0.15 +/- 0.08%). In addition, the milk of the Fulani women contained adequate concentrations of beta-carotene (1.58 +/- 0.69 micrograms/dl) and vitamin A (42.7 +/- 40.3 micrograms/dl), but very low levels of vitamin E (0.11 +/- 0.10 mg/dl). These data indicate that exclusively breasted infants of Fulani women were receiving relatively low amounts of critical fatty acids and vitamin E.

Retinol Assessment Among Women and Children in Sahelian Mobile Pastoralists

“…Retinol levels in mother’s milk were all close to normal, with the highest values in nomadic women, as observed by Schmeits et al (1999). Human milk retinol values were slightly higher, an average 0.7 μmol/L, than serum levels.…”

Fatty Acid Composition of Fulani ‘Butter Oil’ Made from Cow's Milk

“…If the data in the present report and the one that preceded it (Schmeits et al, 1999) are replicated in similar studies of Fulani in other parts of the western Sahel, then they raise questions about the consequences, particularly for their nursing infants, of the reliance of lactating Fulani women on butter oil is their major source of dietary fat. Since arachidonic acid, the metabolite of linoleic acid, and DHA are critical to the development of the retina and central nervous system of infants, especially during the "rst six months of life (Innis, 1991;Farquharson et al, 1992), it is reasonable to ask if diversifying the nature of the edible fats and oils consumed by nursing Fulani women for the purpose of increasing their intake of essential fatty acids would be a prudent strategy, especially in light of the fact that the milk of the Fulani women we studied contained disturbingly low levels of linoleic acid and DHA (Table 1).…”

“…The contribution of arachidonic acid (20 : 4n!6), an important n!6 polyunsaturated fatty acid and a prostanoid precursor, to the fatty acid pro"le of butter oil was also very low (0.14%). In contrast, the proportion of the other essential fatty acid, namely -linolenic acid (18 : 3n!3), in the butter oil was appreciable; in fact, at 1.09% it was two-fold greater than the percentage of -linolenic acid in the milk of nursing Fulani women in Kurra Falls whom we studied previously (Table 1) (Schmeits et al, 1999). No trans fatty acids were detected in the Fulani butter oil.…”

“…The ratio of the proportion of DHA in The number in parentheses indicates one standard deviation. These data were adapted from Schmeits et al (1999).…”

“…In a recent study of the nutrient content of the milk of Fulani women in northern Nigeria (Schmeits et al, 1999), we analyzed the fatty acid composition of the triacylglycerol fraction and found that while seeming to contain quantities of the essential fatty acid -linolenic acid su$cient to satisfy the nutritional needs of the infants they To whom all correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed. Tel.…”