Liquid chromatographic method for quantitative determination of free fatty acids in butter
Reed, A.W.; Deeth, H.C.; Clegg, D.E.
Journal - Association of Official Analytical Chemists 67(4): 718-721
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-5756 PMID: 6469902 Document Number: 241619
A liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of free fatty acids in butter. The fatty acids are converted to the p-bromophenacyl esters, via crown ether-catalyzed reaction, without separation from the other butter components. The esters are separated on a C18-bonded silica column by using an acetonitrile-water solvent gradient and quantitated using the ester of hepatadecanoic acid as internal standard. C16 and C18:1 co-elute in the acetonitrile-water system but are separated using an isocratic methanol-acetonitrile-water system. Limits of detection range from 7 ng for butyric acid to 45 ng for linoleic acid. The average coefficient of variation (n = 10) for 10 free fatty acids from a butter was 5.83%.