High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of α-tocopherol in macroalgae

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the microscale determination of α-tocopherol in macroalgae is reported. The method includes microscale saponification and extraction with n-hexane. The presence of α-tocopherol in macroalgae samples was confirmed by HPLC–MS. α-Tocopherol levels as determined in samples by HPLC with UV and fluorescence detection did not differ significantly; however, fluorescence detection has a higher sensitivity (detection limit 10.4 ng/ml, vs. 104 ng/ml with UV detection), as well as good precision (relative standard deviation 1.81%) and recovery (94.3%). Fluorescence detection is also faster. We used this method to determine the α-tocopherol contents of four commercial macroalgae products from northwest Spain as part of nutritional studies in dehydrated Himanthalia elongata and Laminaria ochroleuca, and also in canned Himanthalia elongata and Saccorhiza polychides.