60
Vitamin-A and Carotene Cantent of Cow's Milk
day's intake of carotene. If milk were to be
regarded as the only source of vitamin A
for man, then, in order to ensure the
vitamin in an optimum quantity of about
4 mg. one will have to consume daily as
much as 300 to 400 gm. of butter. Green
leafy vegetables are a very rich source of
vitamin A, and it is possible to have
carotene separated in the laboratory from
other plant sources like pasture grass and
mixed with butter in such a quantity that
say an ounce of it contains the daily dose.
The economic and technical aspects of this
problem and the extent of deterioration
with time of such vitaminized butter or
ghee require investigation and some work
is already under way in this direction in
these laboratories.
TABLE II
Vitamin A in blue units and carotene in microgrammes per gram of fat
Table II gives the amount af vitamin A
in Moore's Blue units per gram of fat for
each of the five cows. It will be observed
that this has been more or less constan
over a considerable period, and it is to
wards the very end of the lactation that the
value has gone to a considerably high figure
showing the increased richness of milk to
wards the end of lactation. The caroten
content has not shown a similar increase
(per gram of fat) towards the end of lact
ation. A reference to Table II will show
that only in cows Nos. 2 and 3 is there any
definite indication of an increasə. The
butter prepared in bulk from the milk
of cows Nos. 4 and 5 appeared even by visual
observation to be very much lighter in
colour than the other samples.
Date
20-4-42
30-4-42
9-5-42
14-5-42
23-5 42
293-5-42
6-6-42
13-6-42
20.6-42
29-6-42
4-7-42
11-7-42
18-7-42
27-7-42
1-8-42
8-8-42
15-8-42
22-8-42
30-8-42
7-9-42
14-9-42
22-9-42
28-9-42
3-10-42
13-10-42
19-10-42
2-11-42
7-11-42
14-11-42
21-11-42
28-11-42
Cow No. 1
Vit. A
in
B. P.
25
25
27
25
29
28
24
25
26
28
25
24
23
29
23
27
29
28
35
35
25
34
31
29
29
24
32
31
31
40
55
Carotene
in
mg.
4.73
4.11
4.03
5.27
5.26
4 63
3.59
4.02
3.54
515
3.89
4.82
3.29
4.91
2.92
4.08
5.00
5.06
5.29
2.44
3.38
4.69
5.97
5.50
5.32
4.41
4.82
4.29
4.37
7.56
619
Cow No. 2
Vit. A
in
B.U.
29
25
25
23
29
33
24
30
26
28
25
27
25
33
33
29
29
27
27
36
31
37
41
33
34
35
36
36
40
42
57
Carotene
in
mg.
4.01
4.49
3.69
5.54
5.54
5.78
456
4.00
4.82
7.61
9.76
6.12
5.23
4.78
..
5.96
7.14
7.21
8.18
5.78
5.64
6.35
6.10
6.44
6.87
6.80
6.48
7.13
9.80
8.18
8.78
Cow No. 3
Vit. A
in
B.U.
37
27
23
24
33
26
26
28
30
29
22
25
27
28
35
27
28
30
29
30
25
27
29
31
27
32
38
43
31
56
65
Carotene
in
mg.
6.90
4.99
4.60
7.62
6.80
5.10
4.91
5.90
5.62
5.21
3.71
4.49
3.90
500
4.02
4.13
5.63
5.49
6.16
3.45
2.73
3.57
4.16
6.54
4.92
5.09
5.96
5.11
9.82
7.42
7.60
Cow No, 4
Vit. A
in
B.U.
33
28
23
22
29
23
15
25
32
27
25
19
30
23
28
31
38
27
30
36
36
31
29
35
30
31
44
48
37
59
70
Carotene
in
mg.
6.67
4.47
4.90
5.09
3.20
3.99
3.78
4.17
2.17
2.17
2.11
1.66
2.06
2.72
1.90
1.35
..
2.15
2.26
2.50
..
2.27
2.57
2.77
2.60
2.49
3.34
3.55
..
2.94
3.68
Cow No. 5
Vit. A
in
B.U.
..
26
23
19
36
22
15
26
29
28
30
26
26
15
34
26
22
22
22
28
29
24
28
32
25
31
38
41
36
42
63
Carotene
in
mg.
..
3.87
4.25
5.20
6.10
4.20
3.99
4.38
6.00
5.10
6.00
5.79
4.29
4.47
3.2C
4.73
3.99
5.77
5.11
4.63
3.51
1.92
2.90
2.79
2.39
2.65
..
3.25
3.56
..
..