B-Complex Vitamin Content of Cheese II. Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Pyridoxine, Biotin, and Folic Acid

Abstract

A large number of samples of 23 varieties of cheese and eight varieties of processed cheese or cheese foods and spreads were assayed for several B vitamins. The cheeses contained on an average 277μg of niacin, 94μg of vitamin B6, 691μg of pantothenic acid, 1.79μg of biotin, and 22.3μg of folic acid per 100 g. There were wide variations in vitamin content among individual samples of the same variety, as well as among the different varieties. The proteolytic type cheeses, Blue, Camembert, etc., had the most niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, biotin, and folic acid. The hard varieties, except for biotin and folic acid, were next, followed by semihard or soft-unripened types. The proteolytic varieties were high in vitamin content, possibly because microorganism varieties synthesize vitamins during curing. In general, any cheese variety high in one B-vitamin was high in most of the other B-vitamins studied. The cheese contained 9 to 55% of the vitamin content of milk and, nutritionally, cheese may be considered a fairly good source of B vitamins. © 1962, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.