Automated fluorometric method for determination of total vitamin C in food products

A specific microfluorometric method for the determination of ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid, and total vitamin C in food products has been automated. The procedure developed is an adaptation of the official AOAC method (secs. 43.056-43.062), except that N-bromosuccinimide is used instead of Norit to oxidize vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is selectively oxidized by N-bromosuccinimide before other interfering substances that may be present, so this method is a highly sensitive and specific technique with extensive applicability. The proposed automated method is simple, rapid, reliable, and sufficiently sensitive to analyze as little as 2 x 10-3 to 0.1 mg ascorbic acid/ml. Analytical results obtained for ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid, and total vitamin C in a wide variety of food products are reported. The analytical system developed has the capability of analyzing 50 samples/hr.