Antioxidant Capacity and Quality of Human Milk and Infant Formula Determined by Direct Current Polarography

Antioxidants present in infant food contribute to its nutritive value and provide protection from oxidative damage. Here, a direct current polarographic method, based on a decrease of anodic current from the hydroxoperhydroxo-mercury(II) complex (HPMC) formed at a mercury dropping electrode at its potential of dissolution, was used to determine the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of infant formulas, human milk collected from mothers of full-term and preterm infants, human milk supplemented with fortifier, and cow milk. TAC of milk samples and infant formula correlated with protein content measured by the Bradford method (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.605, p