Determination of food constituents based on SFE: applications to vitamins A and E in meat and milk

A method has been developed for the determination of vitamins A and E in fo od using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), applying liquid or solid tra pping, with an accuracy equal to conventional solvent extraction methods. U nder optimal conditions, using methanol modified carbon dioxide as a superc ritical fluid, Hydromatrix as a water adsorbent, and with a small amount of ascorbic acid and methanol added to the sample, the extraction time is red uced to 80 min. This time is considerably shorter than in conventional meth ods. Other advantages are the reduction of manual manipulations leading to lower labour costs and reduced consumption of organic solvents in the sampl e preparation step. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.