Simultaneous determination of semi‐essential nutrients taurine, l‐carnitine and choline in infant formulas and adult/pediatric nutritional formulas by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography‐electrospray ionization‐tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe nutritional intake of formula‐fed newborns is often limited to a single source, so it must be supplemented with essential nutrients for the growth and proper development of infants. Taurine, l‐carnitine, and choline are considered conditionally essential nutrients especially in newborns and infants.RESULTSIn this work, a simple routine hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography‐electrospray ionization‐tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC‐ESI‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of these semi‐essential nutrients in infant and adult/pediatric milk formulas. The extraction recoveries were between 90% and 114%. Precision of the method offered relative standard deviation below 5% and 7% for intra‐day and inter‐day precision, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to quantification of taurine, l‐carnitine, and choline in milk formula. The contents found were in good agreement with those provided on the product label for almost all samples.CONCLUSIONIn view of these results, it can be concluded that the developed method can be a useful approach for the simultaneous determination of taurine, l‐carnitine and choline in powdered milk samples, so it can be useful in the routine quality control of this kind of samples. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.