DETERMINATION OF FOLIC ACID CONTENT IN CEREALS SAMPLES USING IMM UNO AFFINITY COLUMN CLEAN UP IN CONJUNCTION WITH UV-HPLC

摘要

The growing use of folic acid in commercial foods and as supplements means that food manufacturers, regulatory agencies and commercial laboratories require increasingly sensitive and accurate analytical methods to enable faster and more reliable determination of the vitamin content and the nutritional labelling of food (Arcot and Shrestha, 2005). Folic acid is an important water-soluble vitamin, which is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells. Folic acid is required in the body tohelp in the replication of DNA and is crucial during periods of rapid cell division and growth such as infancy and pregnancy. Since humans cannot synthesize folates they must be obtained from dietary sources containing naturally occurring folates or fromfoods fortified with folic acid like cereals and infant formula (Gujska and Majewska 2005). Lack of folic acid in the diet results in folate deficiency, which can in turn cause anaemia and neural tube defects (NTD) resulting in spina