RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 21 (1) June 2009, p. 621-626

CONCENTRATION AND ISOLATION OF INDIVIDUAL VITAMIN E COMPONENTS IN PALM PHYTONUTRIENTS CONCENTRATE USING HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQIUD CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH FLOURESCENCE DETECTION

CHANDRASEKARAM, Kumuthini * ; NG Mei Han ** ; CHOO Yuen May ** ; CHUAH Cheng Hock *

ABSTRACT

Palm phytonutrients concentrate is a rich source of vitamin E. Vitamin E content in palm phytonutrients concentrate was found to be 15 370 ppm. Components of vitamin E identified in the palm phytonutrients concentrate consists of α-tocopherol (α-T), γ-tocopherol (γ-T), α-tocotrienol (α-T3), γ-tocotrienol (γ-T3) and δ-tocotrienol (δ-T3). This article reports a study on the concentration of individual palm vitamin E components in crude palm oil (CPO), palm phytonutrients concentrate (PPC) and unsaponifiables of palm phytonutrients concentrate (unsap PPC). This article also reports a study on the concentration of bulk vitamin E through the application of open column chromatography and subsequent isolation of individual palm vitamin E components using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection and a semi-preparative silica column. As the vitamin E components are concentrated in a stepwise manner by means of saponification, open column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC, the concentration of individual components can be enriched by up to 94.6%.

KEYWORDS:


* Chemistry Department,
Science Faculty,
University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

** Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
P. O. Box 10620,
50720 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
E-mail: choo@mpob.gov.my