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. 2014;34(6):749-56.
doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2014.34.6.749. Epub 2014 Dec 31.

Rapid Determination of L-carnitine in Infant and Toddler Formulas by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Jang-Hyuk Ahn  1 , Byung-Man Kwak  2 , Jung-Min Park  3 , Na-Kyeoung Kim  3 , Jin-Man Kim  3
Affiliations

Rapid Determination of L-carnitine in Infant and Toddler Formulas by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Jang-Hyuk Ahn et al. Korean J Food Sci Anim Resour. 2014.

Abstract

A rapid and simple analytical method for L-carnitine was developed for infant and toddler formulas by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A 0.3 g of infant formula and toddler formula sample was mixed in a 50 mL conical tube with 9 mL water and 1 mL 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) to chemical extraction. Then, chloroform was used for removing a lipid fraction. After centrifuged, L-carnitine was separated and quantified using LC-MS/MS with electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. The precursor ion for L-carnitine was m/z 162, and product ions were m/z 103 (quantitative) and m/z 85 (qualitative), respectively. The results for spiked recovery test were in the range of 93.18-95.64% and the result for certified reference material (SRM 1849a) was within the range of the certificated values. This method could be implemented in many laboratories that require time and labor saving.

Keywords: L-carnitine; LC-MS/MS; analytical method; infant formula; toddler formula.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Contents of L-carnitine in the extracted solution by pH adjusting in the range of 3.0 ~ control. Control pH was 7.6 (SRM 1849a), and 6.8 (infant formula sample), respectively.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) chromatograms when different mobile phases were used for L-carnitine analysis.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Comparison of calibration curves for L-carnitine standard solutions; 9 points of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 μg/L (a), 5 points of 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 μg/L (b), 5 points of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 μg/L (c), respectively.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) chromatograms of L-carnitine by the total ion current and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, with relative response ratios; L-carnitine standard solution (a), SRM 1849a (b), and Infant formula sample (c), respectively.
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References

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