Quantitative analysis of triglyceride species of vegetable oils by high performance liquid chromatography via a flame ionization detector

A method for the quantitative analysis of triglyceride species composition of vegetable oils by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) via a flame ionization detector (FID) is described. Triglycerides are separated into molecular species via Zorbax chemically bonded octadecylsilane (ODS) columns using gradient elution with methylene chloride in acetonitrile. Identification of species is made by matching the retention times of the peaks in the chromatogram with the order of elution of all of the species that could be present in the sample on the basis of a random distribution of the fatty acids and comparison of experimental and calculated theoretical carbon numbers (TCN). Quantitative analysis is based on a direct proportionality of peak areas. Differences in the response of individual species were small and did not dictate the use of response factors. The method is applied to cocoa butter before and after randomization, soybean oil and pure olive oil.