Improved method for the determination of triacylglycerols in olive oils by high performance liquid chromatography

The analysis of triacylglycerols has great importance as quality control and origin determination aid in olive oils analytical methodologies. New improvements in the analysis of triacylglycerols by high-performance liquid chromatography in olive oils are developed in order to increase the separation between LLL/OLLn and OLL/OOLn critical pairs used for detection of seed oils in olive oils. Elution with acetone/acetonitrile (55:45) using gradient temperature and isothermal elution with propionitrile were investigated, in comparison with the European Union official method. The best resolution was achieved using propionitrile at 20 ºC. Although the HPLC profile was similar using propionitrile and acetone/acetonitrile, differences in minor triacylglycerols contributing to each HPLC peak were encountered. The precision of the method was good.