“Pseudo-vitamin B12” as a biologically inactive form in algae - a major challenge in the analysis of vitamin B12 in food supplements?

The aim of this research project is to develop a reliable analytical method to differentiate the biologically active vitamin B12 from the non-active pseudo-vitamin B12 using UHPLC-PDA-MS. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography system (UHPLC) is used as well as different detectors (PDA and QDa) in order to be able to generate more information about the pseudo form, which is crucial and for reliable identification and quantitative determination. Vitamin B12 is produced by some microorganisms and is therefore almost exclusively found in foods of animal origin. Consequently, a vegetarian or even vegan diet can pose a health risk and lead to deficiency symptoms, which is why doctors recommend supplementing vitamin B12 in many cases. Many of these preparations consist of algae, but not all algae species are able to synthesize vitamin B12, some produce a structurally very similar compound, which is known as "pseudo-vitamin B12", but which has no biological activity for humans. As a result, such dietary supplements are ineffective.