Adapting of a Method for Qualitative and Quantitative Determination of Squalene in Distillation Cuts of Sunflower Oil

Abstract

Squalene is a naturally-occurring dihydro-triterpene hydrocarbon (C30H50) with six double bonds, which is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of phytosterol or cholesterol in plants or animals. The sources of squalene and the main methods forsqualene production and determination are consideredin brief. Sunflower oil distillation cuts have been selected as the subject of the study, since they area promising secondary raw material for the industrial squalene production. The methods of sample preparation and quantification of squalene in sunflower oil distillation cuts applying gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry have been adapted. The aim of the studyis to create an integrated approach to determining the qualitative and quantitative content of squalene in distillation cuts of vegetable oils. To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks have been solved: – Amethod of sample preparation of distillation cuts for determination of squalene has been adapted; – A method of qualitative and quantitative determination of squalene in distillation cuts has been modified. As a result of this study, a technique for sample preparation of distillation cuts was proposed as well as a method for the qualitative and quantitative (absolute calibrationmethod) determination of squalene in distillation cuts of sunflower oil. To implement the technique, a Kristall 5000 gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometric detector was used. Squalene and background components were recorded using the NIST 11 mass spectral database.