The occurrence of pyridoxamine phosphate in milk

Abstract

SummaryThe presence of pyridoxamine phosphate in extracts of freeze-dried raw and evaporated milks has been demonstrated by separation and identification of the vitamin B6active compounds by chromatography and electrophoresis on paper. Its presence in the milk extracts is the cause of the higher values for vitamin B6activity measured withStreptococcus faecalisas compared with those obtained withStr. faeciumorSaccharomyces carlsbergensis. This is becauseStr. faecaliscan utilize the phosphate for growth as readily as free pyridoxamine, whereasStr. faeciumandS. carlsbergensiscannot. The mild acid treatment used for extracting the vitamin B6active compounds from the milk samples for microbiological assay was found to be insufficient to hydrolyse the pyridoxamine phosphate. Further treatment of the acid extracts with intestinal phosphatase released the pyridoxamine from its phosphate and increased the vitamin B6activity measured withS. carlsbergensisandStr.faeciumso that the total vitamin B6activities of the freeze-dried raw and evaporated milks measured microbiologiclly, were then in agreement with the values found in previous tests with chicks and rats.Pyridoxamine phosphate could only be detected in small amounts in a sample of fresh milk. The possibility that more of it was formed during the processing and storage of the freeze-dried samples is discussed.