A review of current trends of vitamin identification and quantification by chromatography from food samples

Chromatography is a crucial analytical method for the separation, detection, and purification of the elements in mixture for qualitative and quantitative analyses. HPLC is the preferred laboratory method for the accurate identification of water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. Recent advances in chromatography for identifying and separating vitamins have increased the peak resolving power by using smaller than 2 μm particle columns, eluent segmentation, and development of integrated platforms, such as LC-MS NMR, or holistically chromatographic systems, such as UPC2. This review provides an overview of the advancements made in chromatographic techniques for analyzing food vitamins. The article describes the fundamentals of chromatography, medicinal potential, vitamin absorption and classification, followed by a presentation of the sampling and extraction methods of vitamins from food, as well as chromatographic conditions and factors impacting the extraction processes. Thus, we focus on the latest developments and future trends in identifying and quantifying these nutrients. Our review identifies the current trends on the simultaneous analysis of as many vitamins and vitamers as possible by considering the integration of chromatographic peaks, which must be precise and reproducible, column efficiency, sensitivity, resolution, and retention times. •Simultaneous analysis of vitamins (FSV and WSV) from food by chromatography is preferred.•Conventional detectors such as FLD are used instead of MS (due to the matrix effect or costs).•Reference materials becomes mandatory in the validation and development of new chromatographic methods.