High pressure liquid chromatographic determination of vitamins A and E in cereal products.

A rapid method for the simultaneous determination of vitamins A and E in fortified cereal products has been developed. Saponification of retinyl or tocopheryl esters is not required, permitting direct injection of the extracted lipids onto the high pressure liquid chromatographic column without sample cleanup. Elution times of 2.46 and 3.40 min were determined for retinyl palmitate and tocopheryl acetate, respectively, using a muPorasil column and an isocratic mobile phase of hexane-chloroform (85 + 15) with a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. The average recovery of retinyl palmitate was 99.2% (std dev. 4.28), and the average recovery of tocopheryl acetate was 94.9% (std dev. 4.10) in 2 cereals containing corn, oat, rice, and wheat. No significant amounts of naturally occurring tocopherols were found in the cereals.