Overview of Flow Injection, Chemiluminescence, and Spectrophotometric Methods for the Determination of Vitamin A

Vitamin A (VA) is composed of various unsaturated organic compounds, such as retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid, along with several provitamin A carotenoids, with β-carotene being the most significant. This nutrient is essential for a broad spectrum of physiological functions in the human body. Various methodologies have been established to measure VA concentrations in diverse samples. Flow injection analysis (FIA) provides multiple advantages, including versatility, precision, cost efficiency, rapidity, and easy automation. This article aims to emphasize the significance and sources of VA, while also describing different chemiluminescence (CL) systems in use based on both direct and indirect CL in conjunction with the FIA system. Furthermore, it discusses FIA assays for the quantification of VA utilizing CL and spectrophotometric detection. A summarized table outlining the analytical characteristics of various techniques employed for VA analysis is also presented.