A SIMPLE UV AND DERIVATIVE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHODS FOR DETERMINATION OF ANTIOXIDANT VITAMIN beta-CAROTENE IN SPIKED HUMAN PLASMA AND VITAMIN DRUG

A simple and sensitive UV, first- and second-order derivative spectrophotometric methods are proposed for the determination of beta-carotene in spiked human plasma and vitamin drug. The quantitative determination of beta-carotene was carried out by using wavelengths 452 nm (for UV; A), 496 nm (for first-order derivative; D-1) and 484 nm (for second-order derivative; D-2). The methods were validated with the concentration range 0.5-5.0 mu g/mL in both plasma and standard solution. The calibration curves were linear with correlation coefficients >0.999. The limits of quantitation of three methods were 0.075 mu g/mL in plasma and 0.050 mu g/mL in standard solution. For all methods, the recovery of beta-carotene from plasma and drug mixture was higher than 80.3% and 87.3%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of beta-carotene in pharmaceutical analysis and the results obtained from each of the three spectrophotometric methods in pharmaceutical analysis were statistically compared and no significant difference was found.