The Essence of Nourishment: Tracing the Levels of Essential Mineral Elements in the Colostrum Milk of Full-Term Mothers

Abstract Introduction: Mineral elements in colostrum play important roles in the growth and development of neonates.Objective The study characterized the levels of ten mineral elements in the colostrum (CM) of full-term mothers in a previously unstudied population and compared them with those determined elsewhere.Methodology: Forty-seven (47) respondents took part in the study. Each mother donated twelve millilitres (12 mL) colostrum sample from the day of delivery to four days postpartum following standardized procedures. 10 ml of each sample was digested using EPA Method 3010A and 200.7 and examined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer. IBM Statistics SPSS Version 26.0, Excel Toll Pak and XLSTAT 2022.4.1.1377 were used to analyse the data.Results Concentrations mineral elements quantified ranged from 0.1 ± 0.0 mg/L (Se; lowest) to 602.6 ± 77.6 mg/L (K; highest). Positive significant correlations were observed between Ca and K (r = 0.604; p < 0.0001), Cu and S (r = 0.576; p < 0.0001), S and Na (r = 0.483; p = 0.001), Na and Fe (r = 0.469; p = 0.001), Zn and Ca (r = 0.462; p = 0.001).Conclusion Three factors contributed to the variation of mineral elements in the colostrum accounting for a total of 65.73% in the dataset. Significant relationships were found between K levels in CM and employment status of mothers (p = 0.047) and levels of Zn in CM and maternal parity (p = 0.028). Concentrations of the mineral elements detected compared favourably well with those reported in the literature worldwide.