Photodegradation of riboflavin in the presence of acetate buffer

ABSTRACT

In the present work the photo degradation of riboflavin in the presence of acetate bulfer has been studied. The assay of riboflavin and its photoproducts in degraded solution has been carried out simultaneously using a multi component spectrometer method. Acetate buffer has been found to catalyze the photo degradation of riboflavin and the apparent first-order rate constants for the reaction at pH 4.2 in the presence of 0.125 -0.625 M acetate buffer range from 0.45 [pH 5.6] to 2.05 X 10-2 min-1. The k-pH profile for these reactions shows a maximum around pH 4.2 indicating the participation of different species of the molecule in the reaction. The decrease in the rate of the reaction after the maximum is due to a change in the redox behavior of riboflavin. The results indicate that acetate buffer at a low concentration is suitable for maintaining the pH of vitamin preparations