tocopherols and tocotrienols: an adapted methodology by uhplc/ms without sample pretreatment steps

Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (uhplc/esi/ms) methodology was adapted for identification and quantification of tocopherols and tocotrienols in vegetable oils with no derivatization or sample preparation steps. the uhplc analysis was performed using a c18 column and mobile phase composed of methanol: water: ammonium hydroxide (99:1:0.1 v/v/v) and isopropanol. a single mass spectrometer with electrospray on negative mode was used as a detector for tocopherols and tocotrienols. the samples were diluted in isopropanol. the limit of quantification for tocopherols was 0.006 μg ml−1, and the linear range was 0.006 to 0.01 μg ml−1; for tocotrienols, the limit of quantification was 0.002 μg ml−1, and the linear range of analysis was 0.002 to 0.003 μg ml−1. the correlation coefficients were higher than 0.99, indicating that the method has suitable linearity. the methodology has proven to be precise, reproducible, and robust for the parameters studied.