Dual-Chromatographic Column Tandem Technique for Optimizing Separation and Determination of Vitamin B3

Vitamin B3 is an essential vitamin that the human body cannot synthesize in sufficient amounts. Thus, it must be supplemented through food and medicine. The vitamin B3 content of foods and drugs must therefore be determined to identify its main sources. However, vitamin B3 is a strongly polar substance, and its detection in complex actual samples has certain challenges. In this study, a double column tandem method was established for the determination of vitamin B3 in fruit and drug samples. The chromatographic retention of the vitamin was investigated using different chromatographic single-column and double-column tandem models. The best separation and determination effect was obtained under a dual-column tandem mode consisting of a C18 short column and a HILIC column. The chromatographic conditions for vitamin B3 detection were as follows: 10:90 (v:v) acetonitrile–0.1% acetic acid water solution mobile phase, 30 ℃ column temperature, 0.4 mL/min flow rate, and 262 nm detection wavelength. This method was used to detect vitamin B3 in three fruits and two drugs. The detected content ranged between 1.50×10 2 and 1.35×10 3  mg/kg, and the recovery for spiked samples was 85–102%. This high performance liquid chromatography with two columns tandem can effectively determine vitamin B3. Graphical Abstract