Stereospecific analysis of natural fats triacyl-sn-glycerols by means of enzymatic methods and high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

This paper is a review in which difficulties for the determination of the fatty acid stereospecific positions in the triacyl-sn-glycerol molecules of natural fats are discussed. For determining the stereospecific composition of the triacylglycerols, theoretical models for positional distribution of fatty acids in natural fats can be a useful estimation. Also, the principal methods for the stereospecific analysis by means of enzymatic analysis and high performance liquid chromatography are included. In both methods, the isolated sn-glyceridic fractions are later analysed by gas chromatography in order to know their fatty acid composition. In conclusion, combinations of several different analytical techniques such as enzymatic methods, high performance liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography can furnish valuable information to determine the stereospecific composition of the triacyl-sn-glycerols.

Keywords

• high performance liquid chromatography
• lipolysis
• review (paper)
• stereospecific analysis
• triacyl-sn-glycerol