OVEN-BAKING AND FROZEN STORAGE AFFECT FOLATE VITAMER RETENTION

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for folate mono glutamates was toed to study folate vitamer stability in food. Folate vitamers in fish and chicken fillets were determined raw and after ove n-baking. Folate stability in liver sausage was also evaluated. Folate vitamer stability in raw beef liver and strawberries was determined d uring frozen storage. True vitamin retention (TVR) for tetrahydrofolat e in rainbow trout and pollack after oven-baking was poor (9-60 %). TV R for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was above 65% for both fish species and chicken meat. Folate vitamers were well retained in the processing of liver sausage. Stability of folate vitamers during frozen storage of beef fiver and strawberries (up to 7 months) was very good. HPLC was s uccessfully used to study the effects of cooking and frozen storage on folate vitamers. (C) 1998 Academic Press.