This application note describes a method for determining fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) in salmon oil using automated sample preparation. The method involves the conversion of salmon oil to FAMEs, which are then measured by gas chromatography. The method has good repeatability and saves time.
This document details an application for determining Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs), specifically EPA and DHA, in salmon oil capsules. It demonstrates the use of the Agilent 7696A Sample Prep WorkBench to automate the derivatization process, which transforms free fatty acids into FAMEs for gas chromatography analysis. The automated method is shown to offer significant improvements in reproducibility and time savings compared to manual procedures, particularly for highly unsaturated fatty acids.
| Instrument | Agilent 6890 Series GC |
|---|---|
| Column | HP 88, 100 m x 250 pm, 0.20 pm |
| Injection volume | 2 yl |
| Injector Split | Split 50:1 |
| Carrier gas | Hy |
| Temperature-program | 70 °C-260 °C |
| Flow | 1.4 mL/min |
| Detector | 250 °C, FID |
| Total runtime | 20 minutes per sample |
The total runtime for sample preparation on the Agilent 7696A Sample Prep WorkBench was only 20 minutes per sample.
The two compounds of main interest show retention times of 35.07 minutes (EPA) and 40.55 minutes (DHA).
Relative standard deviations of 0.85% for EPA and 1.22% for DHA were achieved.