SBIR-STTR Award

Internationally vitamin A deficiency affects nearly 250 million children and millions of pregnant and lactating women. Food staples are being fortified in many developing countries to eliminate this problem. Currently, there is not a simple approach to test for compliance and monitor the stability of vitamin A in fortified foods. We propose to develop a rapid field testing kit with a modified portable fluorometer to measure the vitamin A present in specific fortified foods. The kit will be designed for use by individuals with minimal training and will include the fluorometer and all materials required for extraction of vitamin A from the food, calibration and subsequent fluorometric measurement. Retinol and its esters have an excitation near 330 nm and an emission of 460-470 nm. Retinol palmitate, the ester most commonly used in fortification, can be extracted using noncaustic solvents, such as alcohol, in which the ester would be soluble. HPLC, which requires substantial technical, monetary, and time investments, is the most common method for vitamin A analysis. Results from the portable fluorometer will be verified with those obtained by HPLC to determine method accuracy.

Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:
A simple, inexpensive field kit to measure vitamin A in fortified foods will be developed. The kit will include all necessary components (modified fluorometer, calibrants, solutions, sample prep and measuring devices) to measure foods for compliance and stability in both developed and remote areas. The kit will work from a variety of power sources, and will not require the use of caustic solvents for sample extraction. Compliance and stability testing will be required throughout many countries thereby generating a market for the product. Currently over 20 countries fortify foods with vitamin A including: USA, Canada, Guatemala, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and India

The overall objective for this proposal is to prepare the CRAFTi, a portable fluorometer, for commercial production including finalized extraction methods and kits for fortified sugar, rice, flour, and milk. This will include accessories, packaging and a marketing/distribution plan. Specific objectives for this proposal include: 1)Refined modifications to the CRAFTi fluorometer. a)Evaluate type and source of lamps, power supply and filters to insure ease of manufacture. b)Test the utility of multiple power options including solar, AC, and DC. c)Modify software or install shutter to eliminate the flaring due to stray light. d)Modify software to test correctly during instrument initialization. 2)Finalization of extraction methods for sugar, rice, flour. a)Finalize sugar extraction using selected solvents and measuring utensils. b)Refine rice extraction and test with more replicates of actual samples. c)Refine flour extraction and test with more replicates of actual samples. d)Refine corn meal extraction and test with more replicates of actual samples. 3)Development of an extraction method for milk. Spend concerted effort to extract VA from milk without the presence of fluorescent interferences. 4)Analyze at least 25 samples of each matrix obtained from countries fortifying that matrix for statistical comparison of CRAFTi results to HPLC results 5)For each matrix, to analyze the same sample ten consecutive times on the same day using the CRAFTi to determine within-day reproducibility. For each matrix, to analyze the same sample in duplicate on ten consecutive working days using the CRAFTi to determine between-day reproducibility. 6)If the power supply should be modified, recertification of instrument safety using the altered power supply. 7)Identification/development of accessories for measuring, mixing etc. 8)Identification of vendors to supply parts for the instrument modification. 9)Identification of vendors for the solvents and consumable kits. 10)Identification of packaging materials and marketing strategies. 11)Production of documentation in the form of written manuals and training videos.