Food Additives (Hypochlorous Acid Water, Sodium Metabisulfite, and Sodium Sulfite) Strongly Affect the Chemical and Biological Properties of Vitamin B12 in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

Food additives, such as hypochlorous acid water, sodium metabisulfite, and sodium sulfite, strongly affect the chemical and biological properties of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) in aqueous solution. When cyanocobalamin (10 μmol/L) was treated with these compounds, hypochlorous acid water (an effective chlorine concentration of 30 ppm) rapidly reacted with cyanocobalamin. The maximum absorptions at 361 and 550 nm completely disappeared by 1 h, and vitamin B12 activity was lost. There were no significant changes observed in the absorption spectra of cyanocobalamin for 0.01% (w/v) sodium metabisulfite; however, a small amount of the reaction product was formed within 48 h, which was subsequently identified as sulfitocobalamin through high-performance liquid chromatography. Similar results were shown for sodium sulfite. The effects of these food additives on the vitamin B12 content of red shrimp and beef meats were determined, revealing no significant difference in vitamin B12 content of shrimp and beef meats with or without the treatment even in hypochlorous acid water. The results suggest that these food additives could not react with food vitamin B12 in food, as most of this vitamin present in food is its protein-bound form rather than the free form.