ABSTRACT
Lipid analysis comprises a vast range of methods, approaches and analyses that serve totally different purposes. Oils and fats are analysed on the shop floor by a plant operator titrating their free fatty acid content so that he/she can calculate how much lye to use in the chemical refining process. A homemaker may analyse the contents of a partially used bottle of walnut oil organoleptically for rancidity to decide whether or not to throw it away. An analyst in a clinical laboratory uses instrumental methods to determine fatty acid compositions and may even distinguish between various fatty acid isomers. A plant breeder uses an automated, high throughput system of analysis to screen individual seeds in a nondestructive manner to decide which seeds to plant next season.
