Methods for determining nutrients in foods: A critical appraisal

Approximately four dozen nutrients are required In human nutrition and these are present in a wide variety of foods. These nutrients are unequally distributed in various plant and animal tissues. There are losses in nutrients of processed foods, which vary according to the type of food, process, time and nutrient involved. It is necessary to evaluate the nutrient composition of processed foods so as to estimate the nutrient consumption by the population. The earlier methods of analysis of various nutrients in foods were restricted to manual methods, which were time consuming. A remarkable change has taken place with the advent of automated analyses, advances in chromatography etc., that are faster, more sensitive, accurate and reliable. This paper critically reviews the applicability of the different methods of analysis to various nutrients in foods.