Study on determination methods and analysis of micronutrients in take-away meals

Abstract

To comprehensively analyze the trace nutrient contents in take-away meals, the simultaneous detection method of common vitamins in take-away meals were explored based on the samples' matrix, and the content of trace nutrients in take-away meals was analyzed combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(ICP-MS) detection of common elements. Fifty-seven take-away meals were collected randomly and analyzed. Vitamins were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector tandem fluorescence detector after pretreatment of samples including enzymatic digestion, hydrolysis and extraction. The separation was performed on a C_(18) column(250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with ion-pair acid reagents as the mobile phase for water-soluble vitamins and methanol for fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin B_1, vitamin B_2, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and vitamin A were detected by ultraviolet detector(UVD), while vitamin B_6 and E by fluorescence detector(FLD). Elemental analysis of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, selenium and copper in the take-away meals was carried out according to GB 5009.268-2016 by ICP-MS to comprehensively evaluate the contents of micronutrients. Through optimization of chromatography and sample pretreatment conditions, the sensitivity of the established detection method can meet the needs of micronutrient evaluation with the detection limits and quantification limits of vitamins in the range of 0.002-0.098 mg/100 g and 0.007-0.327 mg/100 g, respectively. Good precision was obtained(<10%). The spiked recovery rates were 80.5%-103.8%(n=6). The result showed that the contents of micronutrients in take-away meals were generally low. The detection rates of vitamins ranged from 21.1% to 98.2%. The proposed method is simple and sensitive, and the contents of vitamins and elements determined were low in the collected take-away meals.