Determination of niacin profiles in some animal and plant based foods by high performance liquid chromatography: association with healthy nutrition

Vitamin B₃ (niacin) is essential for all living cells and plays a central role in energy metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation. Vitamin B₃, a water-soluble vitamin, is present in the form of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide, a monocarboxylic acid derivative of pyridine. While nicotinic acid is commonly effective in lowering cholesterol levels, unlike nicotinic acid, nicotinamide is ineffective on lipids. Presence rates of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide, which are the available forms of vitamin B₃, are different for each food. However, the studies in the literature are generally based on the analysis of total amount of vitamin B₃ in foods and the studies determining the profile of vitamin B₃ in foods are limited. The aim of the study was to determine the vitamin B₃ profiles of 10 kinds of animal based food and 10 different plant based food samples. In this study, 10 kinds of animal based food samples consisting of veal (veal steak fillet), chicken (breast), turkey meat (thigh), goat meat (leg, belly), lamb (leg, back, arm), mutton (belly), bovine meat (loin) and 10 different plant based food samples namely; barley, rye, wheat (bread), wheat (durum), oat, rice, dried pea, green lentil, red lentil and chickpea were studied by high performance liquid chromatography using post-column derivatization system. The presence rates of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide were determined in the meat samples as 30% and 70% and as 87% and 13% in the cereal and legume samples, respectively. Nicotinic acid levels were found in low amounts in the meat samples. The amounts of nicotinic acid in the cereal and legume samples were significantly higher than the meat samples. Consequently, the plant based foods such as cereals and legumes, with a ratio of 87% nicotinic acid presence, standout as the best source of nicotinic acid and encouraging regular intake of those cereals and legumes containing rich nicotinic acid would remove nicotinic acid deficiency in human.