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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Composition and Methods Development Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #116376
Title: A QUANTITATIVE STABLE-ISOTOPE LC-MS METHOND FOR DETERMINATION OF FOLIC ACID IN FORTIFIED FOODS

Author
item Pawlosky, Robert

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/30/2000
Publication Date: 2/17/2001
Citation: Pawlosky, R.J. 2001. A quantitative stable-isotope lc-ms methond for determination of folic acid in fortified foods. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 49:1282-1286.

Interpretive Summary: A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) assay was developed for folic acid in fortified foods. Folic acid was extracted from food samples and analyzed by LC- MS. The analyte was quantified using 13C5-folic acid as an internal standard. The precision of the method was 5.6%. The accuracy of the method was assessed using a standard method of addition of folic acid to a shredded whole-wheat cereal. The quantitative determination of folic acid in this matrix was linear over one order of magnitude. The method was applied to the determination of folic acid in some fortified breakfast cereals and the values were found to accord well with the manufacturer's claim. The specificity of the technique and quantitative accuracy of the method in various food substrates suggests that this method may be adapted for routine analysis in other fortified foods.

Technical Abstract: A stable-isotope liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) assay was developed for the determination of folic acid in fortified foods. Folic acid was extracted from food samples and analyzed by LC-MS in using electrospray ionization. The analyte was quantified using 13C5-folic acid. The coefficient of variation for the precision of the method was 5.6%. The quantitative determination of folic acid in this cereal was linear over one order of magnitude. The method was applied to the determination of folic acid in some test samples (fortified breakfast cereals) and the values were found to accord well with the manufacturer's claim. This method advances a LC-MS technique for the determination of folic acid in fortified foods. The specificity of the technique and quantitative accuracy of the method in various food substrates suggests that this method may be adapted for routine analysis in other fortified foods.