High-Efficiency FAME Analysis Using Capillary GC

Most authorities currently agree that saturated fatty acids are undesirable in one's diet and that hydrogenated fats can also be unhealthy. Whereas, some unsaturated fatty acids and particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids fall into the "healthy" category. Certain unsaturated fatty acids, notably the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, have been said to have beneficial effects. It has therefore become increasingly important to develop analytical procedures that can unambiguously differentiate the various geometric and positional forms of dietary fatty acids. However, trans-unsaturated isomers, like saturated acids, need to be limited in our diet as they are linked to cardiovascular disease. Figure 1 and Tables 1 and 2 describe an analysis for the identification of fatty acids (as their methyl ester derivatives, FAMEs) in a commercially available fish oil/omega-3 and omega-6 dietary supplement using a 60 m HP-88 column. Good resolution is obtained for the essential fatty acids of interest, but also noted is the presence of several trans isomers, indicating that the source of the oils is perhaps adulterated or otherwise not of "virgin" quality.

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