Desenvolvimento, otimização e validação de método rápido para determinação de ácido fólico em farinha de trigo enriquecida

Abstract

In order to eliminate the problems related to deficient intake of vitamins folate class, many food products are being subjected to the enrichment process. Among them, all types of wheat flour must be enriched with folic acid. Therefore, it is evident the need of analytical methods for routine able to effectively determine the levels of folic acid in enriched matrix. The objective of this work was the development and validation of a rapid method for determination of folic acid added to wheat flour, using the technique of high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Folic acid was separated using a C8 column. Was used for elution gradient mobile phase with water acidified with glacial acetic acid (pH 2.8) and acetonitrile. Detection was performed with a diode array detector employing a wavelength of 290 nm. External standard was used for quantification. Vitamin matrix was extracted with aqueous potassium hydroxide, 0.1 mol L-1 and aqueous sodium tetraborate 0.04 mol L-1 pH 8.5, followed by cleaning step of the extract of the sample through SPE using SAX cartridges. The method was efficient, with recovery values between 96 and 99%, RSD from 1.3 to 3.8% and LOD and LOQ of 0.28 and 0.937 mg kg-1, respectively. In the analysis of real samples of five brands tested, only one brand presented concentration of folic acid above the minimum required by law.