Chick Liver-Storage Bioassay of Alpha-Tocopherol: METHODS

Abstract

The results of both a long (two-week supplementation) multiple slope-ratio chick liver-storage bioassay and a short (three-day supplementation, one-day stabilization) bioassay to tocopherol indicated that the different forms of α-tocopherol were utilized to the same relative degree under the two sets of conditions. The d,α-tocopheryl acid succinate in relation to the dl,α-tocopheryl acetate was only 0.61 (short bioassay) to 0.73 and 0.77 (long bioassay) as well utilized by the chick. The method of Bro-Rasmussen and Hjarde ('57a), when modified as to the saponification procedure, with the same procedure of chromatography through secondary magnesium phosphate, and with a modified method of reading with ferric chloride-dipyridyl, was shown to be a possible substitute for the method of molecular distillation and Florex-chromatography for analysis of liver for α-tocopherol. Limitations of the method of saponification followed by secondary magnesium phosphate-chromatography were reported.