Quantitative analysis of vitamin D3 in a feed using normal phase high pressure liquid chromatography

A procedure is described for the separation and quantification of Vitamin D3 from different feeds and premixes. The study was conducted, first using a liquid partition step as a preliminary clean-up after extraction, then chromatography on activated Silica gel 60 before final analysis on a high pressure liquid chromatograph (HPLC) using a LiChrosorb NH2 (10 mu) column and a variable wavelength UV detector set at 264 nm. Total analysis on the HPLC was achieved in fifteen minutes. The detector response curve for an authentic D3 standard was linear using peak areas with a minimum detectable amount being 5 ng. The overall percent recovery of D3 in feeds was 94.4 +/- 2.4%. The minimum detectable amount of D3 in animal feeds was found to be in the region of 2,000 I.U./kg.