On-line LC-GC method for determination of isomers of nervonic acid in meat-derived food

• Published in: Journal of separation science Vol. 26; no. 15-16; pp. 1347 - 1352
• Main Authors: Barcarolo, Robertino, Bau, Andrea, Moreno, Josefa Barrero, Dimitrova, Burya, Anklam, Elke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01-10-2003; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Central nervous system (CNS); Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Meat and meat product industries; Nervonic acid; On-line LC-GC; Stereoisomer; Prion disease; Nervous system diseases; Chemical analysis; On line; Coupled method; Nervonic acid; HPLC chromatography; Flame ionization detector; Central nervous system (CNS); Infection; On-line LC-GC; Gas chromatography; Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); Quality control; Central nervous system disease; Spongiform encephalopathy; Beef; Fatty acid methyl ester; Mass spectrometry; Food
• ISSN: 1615-9306; 1615-9314
• DOI: 10.1002/jssc.200301487

An on‐line liquid chromatography‐gas chromatography (LC‐GC) method for determination of the cis/trans isomers of nervonic acid in meat‐derived food is described. The technique used a home‐assembled LC‐GC coupled system. A simple LC clean‐up procedure using an analytical gel permeation (5 μm) column and 1% ethyl acetate in hexane as mobile phase has proved to be suitable for the isolation and purification of fatty acid methyl esters from the meat matrix. Use of a silica gel (5 μm) pre‐column improved the separation of cis/trans nervonic acid from cholesterol and the more polar constituents of the extracted fraction. GC analyses were performed using a non‐polar GC column and mass spectrometry (MS) for identification of the analytes and flame ionization detector (FID) for quantification of the compounds studied. Excellent linearity with correlation coefficients higher than 0.999 in the range of 0.05–10 μg mL–1 nervonic acid and a good repeatability with relative standard deviation (RSD) values generally lower than 4% was obtained. The method developed provides a high sensitivity for trace analysis of the cis/trans isomers of nervonic acid and enables complete automation.