Elucidation of triacylglycerols in cod liver oil by liquid chromatography electrospray tandem ion-trap mass spectrometry

Ying-Xu Zeng; Pedro Araujo; Zhen-Yu Du; Thu-Thao Nguyen; Livar Frøyland; Bjørn Grung

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2010.06.055

Elucidation of triacylglycerols in cod liver oil by liquid chromatography electrospray tandem ion-trap mass spectrometry

Talanta. 2010 Sep 15;82(4):1261-70. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2010.06.055. Epub 2010 Jul 24.

Authors

Ying-Xu Zeng¹, Pedro Araujo, Zhen-Yu Du, Thu-Thao Nguyen, Livar Frøyland, Bjørn Grung

Affiliation

¹ National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research NIFES, PO Box 2029, Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway.

PMID: 20801327
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2010.06.055

Abstract

Though liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS(2)) has been widely used in the structural elucidation of triacylglycerols (TAG) in vegetable oils, its potentiality for the identification of TAG molecules in omega-3 rich oils remains unexplored till date. Hence, this article investigates the applicability of LC-ESI-MS(2) for the structural characterization of naturally occurring TAG in cod liver oil without the TAG fractionation during the sample preparation. A computational algorithm was developed to automatically interpret the mass spectra and elucidate the TAG structures respectively. The results were compared against the lipase benchmark method. A principal component analysis study revealed that it is possible to discriminate genuine from adulterated cod liver oil.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chromatography, Liquid / methods*
Cod Liver Oil / chemistry*
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
Triglycerides / analysis*

Substances

Triglycerides
Cod Liver Oil