Anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography with conductivity detection for the analysis of phytic acid in food.

A sensitive method for the accurate determination of phytic acid in food samples is described. The proposed procedure involves the anion-exchange liquid chromatography with conductivity detection. Initially, two methods of determination of phytic acid were compared: absorptiometry and high-performance ion chromatography (HPIC) with chemically suppressed conductivity detector. Unlike most conventional methods involving precipitation by FeCl3, the simpler and more reliable HPIC assay avoids the numerous assumptions inherent in the iron precipitation and the accuracy is independent of the phytate content. The protocol was also applied to a survey of phytic acid concentration in some cereal, oil and legume seeds.