A QUALITATIVE METHOD FOR TRIGLYCERIDE ANALYSIS BY HPLC USING AN EVAPORATIVE LIGHT-SCATTERING DETECTOR

A rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the separation and identification of several triglycerides in edible oil and fat samples using an evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) is described. A single 25 cm Hypersil C-18 column maintained at 35-degrees-C was used successfully to analyze and identify a variety of triglycerides from almond oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil and olive oil. Complete separation and detection of triolein, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-stearoyl-rac-glycerol, trilinolein, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-palmitoyl-rac-glycerol and 1,2-dilinoleoyl-3-oleoyl-rac-glycerol was achieved in less than 20 minutes using a binary gradient of methylene chloride and acetonitrile. No baseline drift or solubility problems were encountered using this improved method.