Determination of the Fatty Acid Profile of Fish by a One-Step Extraction/Methylation Method

✍ Scribed by Ulberth, F. ;Henninger, Monika

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Weight: 396 KB
• Volume: 97
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0931-5985
• DOI: 10.1002/lipi.19950970208

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

To determine the content of individual fatty acids of fish by gas‐liquid chromatography, samples are normally extracted with suitable solvents and the crude lipid extract obtained thereby is derivatized to form fatty acid methyl esters in a subsequent reaction. Alternatively, freeze‐dried fatty fish is reacted with toluene/methanolic‐HCI for simultaneous extraction and methylation of lipids contained in the testing material. Sample preparation by this one‐step method is not only much easier but also as efficient as lipid extraction with chloroform/methanol and derivative formation by base‐catalyzed methanolysis of lipids. Both approaches resulted in comparable figures for the content of individual fatty acids per g dry matter even for the highly unsaturated fatty acids typical for fish lipids.