Quantitative analysis of water-soluble vitamins by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

HPLC and microbiology are the methods traditionally employed to control the vitamin content in food mixtures. However, considerations of cost, time of analysis per sample and complexities involved in the technique have hampered the acceptance of those methods for raw materials analysis. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has substantial potential as a quantitative quality control tool for the food industry. FTIR analysis methods are convenient, rapid, accurate, and in conjunction with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) technology, simplify sample handling. The advantage of choosing FTIR as a quantitative technique lies in its ability to readily carry out multicomponent analysis in association with software such as Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. Results presented here were obtained from water-soluble vitamins (B1, B2, B6 and Niacin) mixtures diluted into a glucose matrix without any chemical extraction.