Estimation of B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3 and B6) by HPLC in vegetables including ethnic selected varieties of Bangladesh

Abstract

Due to population growth together with extreme climate and weather change, enhancement of agricultural production and food supply has become a major concern apart from regular diet, wild plants with high nutritional potential, consumed by various ethnic communities can be an undeniable alternative to mitigate anticipated food crisis. As the nutritional composition of ethnic foods are not known this study investigated the Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3) & Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) content in commonly consumed ethnic foods and some common vegetables in Bangladesh. Those food samples are: Thankuni, Dheros, Badhakopi, Tak Begun, Misti Begun, DhonePata, KachaMorich, Kacha Tomato, Paka Tomato, PudinaPata, Senetur, Pan Alu, Sindire, Kushumgulo, Moikhumbouchuk, Batslai, GondhoBatali, MairaBekong, Fekong, Taolingasku, Mettabe Pat sak, Gajor. The high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) technique equipped with Photometric Diode Array (PDA) detector was used. The identification was basedon retention time and the quantization was determined on the peak area matched against those of standard B-vitamins. Among the samples, Mettabe has the highest Vitamin B1 content (i.e. 21.68mg/100g),Tak begun has the highest Vitamin B2 content (i.e. 2.2mg/100g). Fekong has highest Vitamin B3 content (i.e. 2.55mg/100g) and Taolingasku has the highest Vitamin B6 content (i.e. 29.49mg/100g). Besides from being alternativefoodsources, these ethnic foods can be good sources of B vitamins which are mostly removed during milling and over processing. If their production is properly planned these ethnic foods can facilitate in developing agricultural policies for sustaining food security.