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A Simple HPLC Method with Fluorescence Detection for Choline Quantification in Foods

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Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) method was developed and validated for choline quantification in foods. Samples were extracted by homogenizing in chloroform/methanol/water and hydrolyzing in HCl-acetonitrile. Choline was derivatized using 1-naphthyl isocyanate and quantified by HPLC-fluorescence detection. Average recovery using choline iodide as the standard (n = 6) ranged from 84 ± 6 % for whole-wheat flour to 106 ± 5 % for milk. Recovery after addition of dietary lecithin to two different food matrices faba beans and for whole-wheat flour (n = 6) was 83 ± 5 %. The precision of the analysis (coefficient of variation) ranged from 2 to 13 %. Accuracy was evaluated by analyzing dietary lecithin using HPLC-FLD, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance, which across the different methods agreed within 15 %. This method was applied to quantify the choline content in different food matrices, and provides a simple, inexpensive method that could be widely used.

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Acknowledgments

Scholarship funding from the Partner Ownership initiative program (ParOwn, grant number 20150), the Ministry of Higher Education, Egypt, is gratefully acknowledged. Assistance from the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand and from the Maurice & Phyllis Paykel Trust is also acknowledged.

Conflict of Interest

Mohammed Hefni declares that he has no conflict of interest. Christopher McEntyre declares he has no conflict of interest. Michael Lever declares that he has no conflict of interest. Sandy Slow declares she has no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Industries Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516, P.O. Box 46, Mansoura, Egypt

    Mohammed Hefni

  2. Biochemistry Unit, Canterbury Health Laboratories, P.O. Box 151, Christchurch, 8000, New Zealand

    Mohammed Hefni, Christopher McEntyre, Michael Lever & Sandy Slow

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Christopher McEntyre & Michael Lever

  4. Department of Pathology, University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Michael Lever & Sandy Slow

Authors
  1. Mohammed Hefni
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  2. Christopher McEntyre
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  3. Michael Lever
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  4. Sandy Slow
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Correspondence to Mohammed Hefni.

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Hefni, M., McEntyre, C., Lever, M. et al. A Simple HPLC Method with Fluorescence Detection for Choline Quantification in Foods. Food Anal. Methods 8, 2401–2408 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-015-0131-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-015-0131-9

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