HPLC OF VITAMIN-A-ESTERS IN MARGARINE

In many countries, margarines are fortified by the addition of fat-sol uble vitamins. Vitamin A is usually added in the form of its palmitate or acetate esters or as beta-carotene. The addition of vitamin A-este rs to margarines can be controlled by HPLC using silica columns. Vario us approaches for this analysis are discussed in this paper. The analy sis of added vitamin A in the ester form (without saponification) prov ides a number of advantages which are also discussed. In gradient-elut ion HPLC the separation of several lipid-soluble vitamins (Vitamin A e sters, beta-carotene and tocopherols) is possible.