ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 9.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................211 9.2 Preparation of Fatty Acid Derivatives .....................................................................212 9.3 Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Fatty Acids .......................................................213 9.4 Isolation and Fractionation of Fatty Acids ..............................................................217 9.5 Silver Ion HPLC of CLA ........................................................................................219 9.6 Determination of Free Fatty Acids .........................................................................221 9.7 Identi cation of Fatty Acid Structure .................................................................... 222 9.8 Final Remarks ....................................................................................................... 225 References ...................................................................................................................... 225
9.1 Introduction Few biological lipids surpass dairy fat in the complexity of their fatty acid (FA) composition. Milk fat is regarded as one of the most complex naturally occurring fats and oils, because of the large number of FAs and the variety of molecular structures they encompass. Using a combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques, researchers have identi ed approximately 400 FAs in milk fat. Jensen [1] compiled a listing of various types of FAs. e vast majority of these acids are present in extremely small quantities (<0.01% of the total FAs). However, there are about 14 FAs that are at or above concentrations of 1.0% in ruminants. Most of the FAs (>95%) are esteri ed in glycerides, mainly triacylglycerols (TAGs), with very minor amounts present in the phospholipids or in free form (free fatty acids, FFAs).
