Analysis of hexane extracts of corn hybrids

Abstract

Groups of corn hybrids with common genetic constitutions were analyzed. The lipid compounds from 13 samples of corn flour were extracted with n-hexane. Trimethylsulfonium hydroxide (TMSH) was applied for derivatization of fatty acids into volatile methyl esters. Derivatized extracts were analyzed by GC-MS. Simplified SIM chromatograms were extracted from TIC chromatograms by selecting the ion 74 m/z, which is characteristic only for lipid components. By using cluster analysis of the peak areas of lipid substances a dendrogram was obtained. It was observed that the best separation among corn hybrids can be achieved by introducing automatic integrated areas of peaks from third part of the chromatograms (lipid components that elute after 14.25 min) in multivariate analysis. However, it was also observed that samples of corn hybrids are grouped into clusters independently from their corresponding genetic constitution, no matter which part of the chromatogram is to be applied in cluster analysis.

Keywords

• corn hybrids
• extraction and derivatization
• gc-ms
• lipid composition
• cluster analysis