Extraction and Estimation of Alpha-Tocopherol from Commercially Available Vegetable Cooking Oils by HPLC

Vitamin E is an essential micronutrient required by the body for proper functioning found commonly in vegetable oils and plays very useful role in prevention from degenerative diseases. Alpha-tocopherol is an important antioxidant from the family of Vitamin E. The study was conducted for the extraction and estimation of alpha- tocopherol content in commercially available vegetable cooking oils from the local market of Quetta city. Alpha-tocopherol was determined by Reverse-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) equipped with UV-Vis detector. Results showed concentration value of different vegetable oils examined in range of 0.67 µg/L - 97.9 µg/L. Highest concentration of alpha-tocopherol was observed in Eva canola oil and least in Kisan sunflower oil. Thus use of vegetable cooking oils enriched in vitamin E must be encouraged as they are nutritionally valuable and proved to be important sources in overcoming vitamin E deficiency in developed countries like Pakistan.