Thin-layer silver ion chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography of Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) triacylglycerols

The Baltic herring flesh triacylglycerols (TAGs) were separated in eight fractions by Ag+ thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and the four most unsaturated fractions were analyzed by capillary supercritical fluid chromatography according to their acyl carbon numbers (ACN). In the most unsaturated fraction the major ACNs were 58, 60, and 62, whereas in the three subsequent fractions ACN values of 52, 54, and 56 typically dominated. Fifty-four fatty acids (FAs) were identified from the TAGs by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as their methyl esters, and the content of 37 major acids was analyzed in each TAG fraction. The most abundant FAs were cis-9-octadecenoic (21.0%), n-hexadecanoic (18.6%), all-cis-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic (12.5%), cis-9-hexadecenoic (11.1%), and all-cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (6.4%). In the three most unsaturated TAG fractions 28% was docosahexaenoic acid and 11% eicosapentaenoic acid