JOURNAL OF
FOOD COMPOSITION
AND ANALYSIS
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfca
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 16 (2003) 93–106
Report
Asia Pacific food analysis network (APFAN) training exercise:
the determination of niacin in cereals by alkaline extraction
and high performance liquid chromatography
Suzy M. Juraja
a
, V. Craige Trenerry
a,
*, Roderick G. Millar
b
, Pieter Scheelings
c
,
Donald R. Buick
a
a
Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, 51-65 Clarke Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205, Australia
b
Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, 3 Clive Road, Cottesloe, Western Australia 6011, Australia
c
Queensland Health Scientific Services, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Queensland 4108, Australia
Received 17 September 2001; received in revised form 27 August 2002
Abstract
Analysts from 20 laboratories, mainly from developing countries in the Asia Pacific Food Analysis
Network (APFAN), were invited to participate in a training exercise for the determination of niacin (vitamin
B
3
) in cereals using alkaline extraction and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as the
determinative step. The purpose of the study was to assist these laboratories in adopting a robust HPLC
method for the determination of niacin in these foods. The exercise was divided into three discrete phases.
Analysts were supplied with the validated method together with all of the chemicals and solid-phase
extraction columns that were necessary to complete the three phases of the exercise. Phase 1 of the study
consisted of a ‘‘hands on’’ workshop for 10 overseas analysts conducted at the 6th APFAN workshop held at
the Queensland Health Scientific Services Laboratory, Brisbane, Australia, in May 1999. In phase 1, each
analyst was requested to determine the niacin content of three samples of finely ground breakfast cereal that
contained a known amount of niacin. Phase 2 involved these analysts as well as analysts from 12 other
laboratories in the APFAN network. The analysts were requested to determine the niacin content of a
fortified reference material (American Association of Cereal Chemists VMA 195) containing niacin in the
range 13.9–20.1 mg/100 g in their own laboratories. Twelve participants reported levels of niacin ranging from
10.6 to 21.7 mg/100 g. Analysts who successfully completed this phase then participated in phase 3, involving
the analysis of five different cereal types of unknown niacin content. Eight sets of data were reported for
phase 3. Approximately half of the data were in the expected range for the levels of niacin in the samples.
Crown Copyright r 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: APFAN; Training exercise; Niacin; HPLC
*Corresponding author. Current address: State Chemistry Laboratory, 621 Sneydes Road, Werribee, 3030, Victoria,
Australia. Tel.: +61-3-97428715; fax: +61-3-97428700.
E-mail address: craige.trenerry@nre.vic.gov.au (V.C. Trenerry).
0889-1575/03/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright r 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0889-1575(02)00131-X