Tadmor, Y., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Larkov, O., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Meir, A., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Minkoff, M., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Lastochkin, E., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Edelstein, M., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Levin, S., Medtechnica Ltd., 5 Efal St., Petach Tikva, Israel
Wong, J., University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, United States
Rocheford, T., University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, United States
Lewinsohn, E., Newe ya'ar Research Center, ARO, Ramat Yishay, Israel

Maize lines differ greatly in their composition and total seed content of tocopherols and carotenoids. When HPLC is employed for the determination of tocopherols, the carotenoids present in some of the extracts may not always be fully separated. It is observed that although tocopherols and carotenoids differ greatly in their UV-visible spectra, the absorbance of certain carotenoids might adversely affect the tocopherol determinations. A reversed-phase HPLC system has been developed that effectively separates α-, δ- and γ-tocopherol and avoids interference caused by the carotenoids present. The method is based on the utilisation of a low level of methanol in an acetonitrile:dichloromethane gradient in the presence of triethylamine. This method provides a reliable and accurate procedure for the determination of tocopherols in maize kernels. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.