Simultaneous determination of tocopherols, carotenoids and phytosterols in edible vegetable oil by ultrasound-assisted saponification, LLE and LC-MS/MS

•Ultrasound-assisted saponification and LLE were used to extract targets from oil.•Conditions of saponification were optimized by using central composite design.•Simultaneous determination of tocopherols, carotenoids and phytosterols were proposed. A method was developed to simultaneously determine eight bioactive compounds in edible oil based on ultrasound-assisted saponification, liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Central composite design was employed to optimize ultrasonic temperature and time of saponification. Sample treatment was conducted by ultrasound-assisted saponification at temperature of 75 °C for 40 min. Limits of detection and limits of quantification ranged from 2.0 to 3.2 and from 6.1 to 10.0 ng/mL, respectively. Linear correlations were obtained (R2 > 0.99) and the recoveries at three spiked levels were between 81.7% and 112.0%. This method was employed to determine eight compounds in camellia oils and olive oils. As results, the contents of stigmasterol, δ-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, β-carotene and lutein in camellia oils were significantly higher than those in olive oils (p