Liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of tocopherols in malt sprouts with supercritical fluid extraction

A simple, specific and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic me thod has been developed for the determination of tocopherols in malt sprout s. A supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) procedure was used to isolate toc opherols from the vegetal matrix before quantitative analysis. The analytes were separated on a Zorbax reversed-phase column using methanol-water as m obile phase and quantified by measuring its fluorescence at lambda (em) = 3 28 nm after excitation of the analytes at lambda (exc) = 303 nm. The limits of detection for alpha-, gamma- and delta -tocopherols were 0.04, 0.05, an d 0.05 mug/ml, respectively. The calibration graphs of the method were line ar from 0.1 to 1.5, 0.2 to 2.5, and 0.2 to 2.0 mug/ml, for alpha-, gamma- a nd delta -tocopherols, respectively. This SFE and HPLC procedure is simple, precise and accurate for the determination of tocopherols in malt sprouts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.