Huo J Z, Nelis H J, Lavens P, Sorgeloos P, De Leenheer A P
Laboratoria voor Medische Biochemie en voor Klinische Analyse, University of Gent, Belgium.
Anal Biochem. 1996 Nov 1;242(1):123-8. doi: 10.1006/abio.1996.0437.
A liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed for the quantitative determination of different forms of vitamin E (alpha-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol) in aquatic organisms. The assay consists of a simple extraction with methanol containing butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) as an antioxidant, followed by reversed-phase chromatography with fluorescence detection. The efficiency of the extraction method was equivalent or superior to that of more complex approaches for the isolation of tocopherols. Linearity has been achieved over the range of 0.02 to 3 micrograms/ml for alpha-tocopherol and within-run and between-run coefficients of variation at three levels were 0.7-2.9 and 1.2-3.7%, respectively. The recovery at three concentrations ranged from 73.8 to 96.6% and the minimal quantity that could be detected was 0.6 ng. Comparable figures were obtained for gamma- and delta-tocopherol. This method has been routinely applied to determine vitamin E in Artemia, rotifers, turbot and sea bass larvae, and shrimp postlarvae.
