Rapid Determination of L-carnitine in Infant and Toddler Formulas by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A rapid and simple analytical method for L-carnitine was developed for infant and toddler formulas by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A 0.3 g of infant formula and toddler formula sample was mixed in a 50 mL conical tube with 9 mL water and 1 mL 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) to chemical extraction. Then, chloroform was used for removing a lipid fraction. After centrifuged, L-carnitine was separated and quantified using LC-MS/MS with electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. The precursor ion for L-carnitine was m/z 162, and product ions were m/z 103 (quantitative) and m/z 85 (qualitative), respectively. The results for spiked recovery test were in the range of 93.18-95.64% and the result for certified reference material (SRM 1849a) was within the range of the certificated values. This method could be implemented in many laboratories that require time and labor saving.