Evaluation of flow-injection tandem mass spectrometry for rapid and high-throughput quantitative determination of B vitamins in nutritional supplements.

The use of flow-injection electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry for rapid and high-throughput mass spectral analysis of selected B vitamins, viz., B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6, in nutritional formulations was demonstrated. A simple and rapid (~5 min) in-tube sample preparation was performed. Automated flow injection introduced 1 μL of the extracts directly into the mass spectrometer ion source without chromatographic separation. Sample-to-sample analysis time was 60 s. Quantitative capabilities of the flow-injection analysis were tested using the method of standard additions and SRM 3280. The quantity determined for each B vitamin in SRM 3280 was within the statistical range provided for the respective certified values. This approach was also applied to two different commercial vitamin supplement tablets and proved to be successful in the quantification of the selected B vitamins, as evidenced by an agreement with the label values and the results obtained using isotope dilution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.