Component fatty acids and composition of some oils and fats

Abstract

Nineteen different samples of oils and fats have been examined for their component acids and composition by gas-liquid chromatography. Under programmed-temperature operations, the temperatures at which different components start to elute bear a straight-line relationship with their respective carbon numbers. Chromatograms, under programmed-temperature conditions, of methyl esters from such oils as coconut, groundnut, mustard, etc., are used for identifying the components of an unknown oil by comparing its chromatogram taken under nearly identical conditions. For confirmatory identifications, such plots as logarithm of retention times versus carbon numbers for saturated acids (14:0 to 24:0), monoenoic acids (14:1 to 24:1), and dienoic acids (18:2 to 24:2), under isothermal conditions, have also been used. Some new fatty acids, noted for the first time in traditional oils, are 15:0 in cottonseed oil, 20:1 in sesame oil, 22:0 in soybean oil, and 24:2 in mustard oil. Odd-carbon chain acids from 11:0 to 23:0 have been observed in such vegetable oils as peanut germ, rice bran, and Mesua ferrea. Fatty acid composition by GLC for new samples like peanut lecithin, peanut germ oil, Myristica attenuata, Myristica kanarica, Myristica magnifica, Mesua ferrea, Vateria indica, Schleichera trijuga, and shark-liver stearine are presented. Industrial utilization of these new oils and fats is discussed. © 1968 The American Oil Chemists' Society.