CHAPTER 15: Spectrofluorimetric Analysis of Vitamin B₁ in Pharmaceutical Preparations, Bio-fluid and Food Samples

Vitamin B₁ (thiamin), a water-soluble vitamin of the B complex, consists of a pyrimidine and thiazol ring associated via a methylene bridge. Vitamin B₁ is biologically and pharmaceutically important compound which acts as a controlling agent for an organism's normal health and growth. All living organisms use vitamin B₁ in their biochemical processes for carbohydrate metabolism and the maintenance of neural activity. Vitamin B₁ is used for the treatment and prevention of diseases such as beriberi and neuralgia, and plays a vital role in enzymatic mitochondrial reactions to liberate energy and NADPH production for maintaining cellular redox, glutathione levels, protein sulfhydryl groups, nucleic acid and fatty acid synthesis. The determination of vitamin B₁ in clinical analysis, food processing, pharmaceutical and biotechnological processes is thus very important. This chapter examines the development of different spectrofluorimetric methods for the determination of vitamin B₁. Such methods have higher sensitivity and selectivity than conventional analysis methods for this purpose.