Determination of vitamin K in milk and infant formulas by liquid chromatography: collaborative study

A simple procedure for determination of vitamin K1 was developed for routine compliance monitoring of supplemented infant formula and measurement of endogenous levels in milk and milk powders. Samples are digested with lipase and extracted into hexane; and aliquot is evaporated, reconstituted in methanol, and analyzed by reversed-phase LC. Post-column zinc reduction of phylloquinone facilitates detection by fluorescence. The procedure was subjected to an AOAC collaborative study involving 8 materials, each in blind duplicate, across the range of 5-120 micrograms/100 g solids and including NIST 1846 reference material. Thirty-three laboratories returned valid data which were then statistically analyzed for outliers and precision parameters. Mean RSDR (%) was 6.53 (4.33-10.94), with a mean HORRAT value of 0.33 (0.23-0.43) and RSDr:RSDR ratio of 0.74. K1 isomers (cis and trans) were aggregated with conventional C18 columns, but may be selectively estimated with use of the C30 column.