title: Determination of alpha-tocopherol in infant foods by liquid chromatography combined with atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mass spectrometry.
abstract: A novel, sensitive and specific method for the quantification of alpha-tocopherol in two infant foods (milk and cereals) using liquid chromatography on-line with positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mass spectrometry detection (LC/APCI-MS) has been developed. The samples were first saponified in order to eliminate fats and to transform tocopherol esters into free tocopherol, followed up by a liquid-liquid extraction of the analyte in petroleum benzine/diisopropyl ether (75:25, v/v) prior to injection onto the LC system. For the quantification, deuterium-labelled tocopherol was used as internal standard and the samples were monitored in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Calibration curves between 1-40 microg/mL of alpha-tocopherol showed a good linear correlation (r(2) = 0.99994), and the detection limit was determined to be 2.5 ng/mL. The within-day and between-day precision were determined for several dietetic infant formulae and certified reference samples, and found to be below 3.5%. The accuracy determined on a Nestlé reference sample (milk powder) was calculated to be 115.2 +/- 1.2%, which confirms the robustness of the proposed method. This study shows that single quadrupole LC/MS can be applied for the quantification of vitamins in food and the method offers better sensitivity and selectivity than traditional method such as LC-UV. This would simplify the preparation of the food samples and consequently enhance the vitamin analysis throughput in the food area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Quality Assurance, Nestlé Research Center, Nestec Ltd, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland. andras.kalman@rdls.nestle.com
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalman
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mujahid
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mottier
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Heudi
mesh_terms: D000399:Air Pressure; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D024502:alpha-Tocopherol