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Robotized method for the quantification of fatty acids by gas–liquid chromatography
Author(s) -
Beggio Maurizio,
Giuffrida Francesca,
Golay PierreAlain,
Nagy Kornél,
Destaillats Frédéric
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of lipid science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1438-9312
pISSN - 1438-7697
DOI - 10.1002/ejlt.201300039
Subject(s) - chromatography , chemistry , derivatization , potassium hydroxide , saponification , gas chromatography , repeatability , rapeseed , transmethylation , fatty acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , sample preparation , reagent , fatty acid methyl ester , high performance liquid chromatography , organic chemistry , food science , biodiesel , biochemistry , amino acid , methionine , catalysis
Analysis of fatty acid profile in fats and oils is conventionally performed by gas–liquid chromatography (GLC) as their fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derivatives. Accurate quantification can be achieved by adding internal standard(s) prior to the derivatization step and calibration of the system using certified FAME mixture. GLC instruments equipped with online sample preparation units became recently commercially available and in theory can be used to improve laboratory productivity and safety. However, studies showing that this type of approach can be used to obtain reliable results are scarce. In the present study, we developed a method suitable for quantitative analysis of fatty acids in fats and oils by robotic preparation and online GLC analysis of FAME using methanolic potassium hydroxide as transmethylation reagent. The method has been validated on different fats and oils including milk fat, palm kernel, rapeseed and long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids containing oil samples. Method performance has been compared to the corresponding manual procedure and results show good repeatability [CV(r)<5%] and good intermediate reproducibility [CV(iR)<5%] in accordance with FDA guidelines. The results obtained show that transmethylation and GLC analysis of fats and oils can be robotized while remaining accurate and providing fatty acid data expressed as g of fatty acid per 100 g of sample. Compared to conventional methods, the volume of reagent and solvent is three times lower per sample analyzed with the robotized version which contributes to the reduction of waste and chemical risk exposure.