[Determination of itaconic acid in culture broth by high performance liquid chromatography]

An HPLC method for the determination of itaconic acid and other components in the culture broth of Aspergillus terreus was developed. The operating conditions were Aminex HPX-87H column (300 mm x 7.8 mm) at 30 degrees C, mobile phase of sulfuric acid (4 mmol/L) and refractive index detector at 30 degrees C. The linear relationship of calibration curve was good in the range of 0-50 g/L for itaconic acid (r = 0.9997). The detection limit was 5.7 micrograms, and the relative standard deviation was 1.37% (n = 7). Other components in the culture broth were SO(4)2-, sucrose, glucose and fructose. The method is simple, sensitive, rapid and accurate.