ABSTRACT
Vitamins are biologically active organic compounds that are essential micronutrients involved in metabolic and physiological functions in the human body. This chapter provides the summary of the current analytical solutions and crucial parameters in high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analysis of vitamins in various foods and biological samples. Various mass spectrometer types are also used in combination with HPLC for the analysis of vitamins. HPLC allows for the separation of investigated compounds and their preliminary identification by comparison of their retention times with retention times of standard compounds. Different types of mass spectrometers and various modes of molecule ionization are used for vitamin analysis. Probably the simplest ones are the quadrupole-type mass spectrometer. These are simple and robust and relatively cheap instruments, excellent for quantification. Atmospheric pressure ionization techniques are soft ionization processes well suited for the analysis of small and large molecules, polar and nonpolar labile compounds.
