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Determination of the Unsaponifiable Matter in Fatty Acids by a Rapid Column Method
Author(s) -
Maxwell R. J.,
Reimann K. A.,
Percell K.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02659783
Subject(s) - unsaponifiable , saponification , chromatography , potassium hydroxide , chemistry , dichloromethane , elution , organic chemistry , solvent
A rapid, quantitative method for determining the unsaponifiable matter (USM) of commercial fatty acids is described. The fatty acid samples are saponified with a mixture of potassium hydroxide and Celite 545 ground together then heated for a short period. The resulting granular powder is transferred to a glass chromatography column containing a short section of CaCl 2 /Celite mixture, and the USM is eluted with dichloromethane. Samples were analyzed in 2 separate laboratories by the new method with slight variations. Good agreement between duplicates and between laboratories was obtained for all of the acids examined. Samples were also analyzed by Official Methods, and the results were uniformly somewhat higher by the proposed method.