Automated fluorometric determination of thiamine and riboflavin in infant formulas

Commercial infant formulas were analyzed simultaneously for thiamine and riboflavin by an automated fluorometric method and by the AOAC manual fluorometric methods. For 10 products, the mean thiamine and riboflavin results determined using the automated method ranged from 104 to 113% and 90 to 112%, respectively, of those by the AOAC manual methods. The coefficients of variation for thiamine and riboflavin ranged from 1.05 to 3.90% and 0.60 to 2.48%, respectively, for the automated methods, and 1.48 to 3.86% and 0.69 to 10.9%, respectively, for the manual methods. Using the automated method, mean recoveries of thiamine and riboflavin added to samples were 103 and 104%, respectively. The automated method used a common sample preparation to determine both thiamine and riboflavin, and gave results equivalent to, or better than, those obtained by the manual methods.