Degradation kinetics of α-tocopherol in hydrophilic gels

The present work studies the degradation kinetics of α-tocopherol in hydrophilic gels incorporating vitamin C as antioxidant. HPLC was used to detect the amounts of α-tocopherol remaining and to validate the analytical and extraction techniques. The results indicate that α-tocopherol undergoes degradation by oxidation of the hydroxyl group, and that this is reduced by the presence of the antioxidant.