Identification of Volatile Acids in Cured Whale Meat by Paperpartition Chromatography

Paper chromatographic isolation of individual volatile acid in the spoiled Cured whale meat was made according to the method of Fink and Fink (1949). About 450 mgms of total volatile acids were obtained from 350g of sample and converted to mixed esters of the acids, then the esters were synthetized to Potassium hydroxamates. A drop of this hydroxamates in methyl alcohol solution was deyeloped by n-butyl alcohol on one-dimensional filter paper. Saturated Fecl8 solution (in butylalcohol) is sprayed on the paper after development is completed. As Rf values of dark purple spot are agreed with that reported by Fink and Fink, the writers assumed the existence of butylic, propionic, acetic and formc acid in the sample (Fig. 1) and this result is also proved by Behrens' petrograplic microscopic method.