A novel electroanalytical approach to the measurement of B vitamins in food supplements based on screen-printed carbon sensors.

This paper describes the development of a novel electrochemical assay for the measurement of water-soluble vitamins in food and pharmaceutical products. The optimum conditions for the determination of vitamin B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin) and B6 (pyridoxine) in phosphate buffer were established using cyclic voltammetry in conjunction with screen printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs). The optimum current response for all three vitamins was achieved in 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 11 using an initial potential of −1.0V. Using square wave voltammetry, the linear ranges for thiamine, riboflavin, and pyridoxine were found to be: 15–110µg/ml, 0.1–20µg/ml, and 2–80µg/ml respectively. The application of the method to a commercial food product yielded a recovery of 95.78% for riboflavin, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 3.38% (n = 5). The method was also applied to a multi-vitamin supplement for the simultaneous determination of thiamine, riboflavin and pyridoxine. In both cases only simple dilution with buffer followed by centrifugation was required prior to analysis. The resulting square wave voltammetric signals were completely resolved with Ep values of −0.7V, +0.2V, and +0.6V respectively. The recoveries determined for the vitamin B complex in a commercial supplement product were found to be 110%, 114%, and 112% respectively (CV = 7.14%, 6.28%. 5.66% respectively, n = 5).