ABSTRACT
This study shows the results of application liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for assay of the content of α-tocopherol and coenzyme Q10 in bee products of animal origin, i.e. royal jelly, beebread and drone homogenate. The biological matrix was removed using extraction with n-hexane. It was found that drone homogenate is a rich source of coenzyme Q10 . It contains only 8 ± 1 µg/g of α-tocopherol and 20 ± 2 µg/g of coenzyme Q10 . The contents of assayed compounds in royal jelly were 16 ± 3 and 8 ± 0.2 µg/g of α-tocopherol and coenzyme Q10 , respectively. Beebread appeared to be the richest of α-tocopherol. Its level was 80 ± 30 µg/g, while the level of coenzyme Q10 was only 11.5 ± 0.3 µg/g. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subject(s)
Bees/chemistry , Ubiquinone/analogs & derivatives , alpha-Tocopherol/analysis , Animals , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Fatty Acids/chemistry , Food Analysis , Humans , Nutrition Assessment , Propolis/chemistry , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , Ubiquinone/analysisABSTRACT
The article discusses analytical problems related to the determination of coenzyme Q10 in biological samples. The assaying of coenzyme Q10 in complex samples, such as plasma, tissues, or food items requires meticulous sample preparation prior to final quantification. The process typically consists of the following steps: deproteinization, extraction, and ultimately reduction of extract volumes. At times drying under a gentle stream of neutral gas is applied. In the case of solid samples, a careful homogenization is also required. Each step of the sample preparation process can be a source of analytical errors that may lead to inaccurate results. The main aim of this work is to point to sources of analytical errors in the preparation process and their relation to physicochemical properties of coenzyme Q10. The article also discusses ways of avoiding and reducing the errors.
