Stereospecific analysis of triacyl- sn -glycerols via resolution of diastereomeric diacylglycerol derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography on silica

Chiral high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of mono-, di-, and triacylglycerols with amylose- and cellulose-phenylcarbamate-based stationary phases

The ever-increasing technological advancement in the (ultra)high-performance liquid chromatography tandem (high-resolution) mass spectrometry platforms have largely contributed to steeply intensify the interest towards lipidomics research. However, mass spectrometers alone are unable to distinguish between enantiomers. This obstacle is especially evident in the case of glycerolipids analysis due the prochiral nature of glycerol. Until a couple of decades ago, the stereoselective analysis of triacylglycerols (TAGs) was performed on the end products generated either from their enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis, namely on mono- or diacyl-sn-glycerols (MAGs and DAGs, respectively). These were then mostly analyzed with Pirkle-type chiral stationary phases (CSPs) after dedicated multi-step derivatization procedures. One of the most significant drawbacks of these traditional methods for enantioselective TAGs analysis (actually of the produced MAGs and DAGs, often investigated as target species per se) was the difficulty to totally abolish the migration of fatty acyls between glycerol positions. This made difficult to control and keep unaltered the stereochemistry of the original molecules. Over the last two decades, it has been widely demonstrated that the enantioselective analysis of intact TAGs as well as of non-derivatized MAGs and DAGs can be efficiently obtained using polysaccharide-based CSPs incorporating either amylose- or cellulose-phenylcarbamate derivatives chiral selectors. In this paper, the enantioselective methods developed with these CSPs for the enantioselective direct LC analysis of MAGs, DAGs and TAGs embedding different types of fatty acid residues are comprehensively reviewed.

Production of human milk fat substitute by engineered strains of Yarrowia lipolytica

Human milk fat has a distinctive stereoisomeric structure where palmitic acid is esterified to the middle (sn-2) position on the glycerol backbone of the triacylglycerol and unsaturated fatty acids to the outer (sn-1/3) positions. This configuration allows for more efficient nutrient absorption in the infant gut. However, the fat used in most infant formulas originates from plants, which exclude palmitic acid from the sn-2 position. Oleaginous yeasts provide an alternative source of lipids for human nutrition. However, these yeasts also exclude palmitic acid from the sn-2 position of their triacylglycerol. Here we show that Yarrowia lipolytica can be engineered to produce triacylglycerol with more than 60% of the palmitic acid in the sn-2 position, by expression of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferases with palmitoyl-Coenzyme A specificity. The engineered Y. lipolytica strains can be cultured on glycerol, glucose, palm oil or a mixture of substrates, under nitrogen limited condition, to produce triacylglycerol with a fatty acid composition that resembles human milk fat, in terms of the major molecular species (palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids). Culture on palm oil or a mixture of glucose and palm oil produced the highest lipid titre and a triacylglycerol composition that is most similar with human milk fat. Our data show that an oleaginous yeast can be engineered to produce a human milk fat substitute (β-palmitate), that could be used as an ingredient in infant formulas.

Regio- and Stereospecific Analysis of Triacylglycerols—A Brief Overview of the Challenges and the Achievements

The efforts to reveal, in detail, the molecular and intramolecular structures of one of the main lipid classes, namely, triacyl-sn-glycerols, which are now known to affect their specific and important role in all living organisms, are briefly overviewed. Some milestones of significance in the gradual but continuous development and improvement of the analytical methodology to identify the triacylglycerol regio- and stereoisomers in complex lipid samples are traced throughout the years: the use of chromatography based on different separation principles; the improvements in the chromatographic technique; the development and use of different detection techniques; the attempts to simplify and automatize the analysis without losing the accuracy of identification. The spectacular recent achievements of two- and multidimensional methods used as tools in lipidomics are presented.

Production of the infant formula ingredient 1,3-olein-2-palmitin in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds

In human milk fat, palmitic acid (16:0) is esterified to the middle (sn-2 or β) position on the glycerol backbone and oleic acid (18:1) predominantly to the outer positions, giving the triacylglycerol (TG) a distinctive stereoisomeric structure that is believed to assist nutrient absorption in the infant gut. However, the fat used in most infant formulas is derived from plants, which preferentially esterify 16:0 to the outer positions. We have previously showed that the metabolism of the model oilseed Arabidopsis thaliana can be engineered to incorporate 16:0 into the middle position of TG. However, the fatty acyl composition of Arabidopsis seed TG does not mimic human milk, which is rich in both 16:0 and 18:1 and is defined by the high abundance of the TG molecular species 1,3-olein-2-palmitin (OPO). Here we have constructed an Arabidopsis fatty acid biosynthesis 1-1 fatty acid desaturase 2 fatty acid elongase 1 mutant with around 20% 16:0 and 70% 18:1 in its seeds and we have engineered it to esterify more than 80% of the 16:0 to the middle position of TG, using heterologous expression of the human lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase isoform AGPAT1, combined with suppression of LYSOPHOSPHATIDIC ACID ACYLTRANSFERASE 2 and PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE:DIACYLGLYCEROL CHOLINEPHOSPHOTRANSFERASE. Our data show that oilseeds can be engineered to produce TG that is rich in OPO, which is a structured fat ingredient used in infant formulas.

Strategy for stereospecific characterization of natural triacylglycerols using multidimensional chromatography and mass spectrometry

Stereoisomeric determination of individual triacylglycerols (TAGs) in natural oils and fats is a challenge due to similar physicochemical properties of TAGs with different fatty acid combinations. In this study, we present a strategy to resolve the enantiomeric composition of nutritionally important TAGs in sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides) as an example food matrix. The targeted strategy combines 1) fatty acid profiling with GC, 2) separation of TAGs with RP-HPLC, 3) stereospecific separation with chiral-phase HPLC and 4) structural characterization with MS. Three major asymmetric diacid- and triacid-TAG species were analyzed in sea buckthorn pulp oil. Off-line coupling of RP-HPLC and chiral-phase HPLC allowed separation of several TAG regioisomers and enantiomers, which could not be resolved using one-dimensional techniques. Enantiomeric ratios were determined and specific structural analysis of separated TAGs was performed using direct inlet ammonia negative ion chemical ionization method. Of the TAG 16:0/16:1/16:1 palmitic acid (C16:0) was located predominantly in a primary position and the enantiomeric ratio of TAG sn-16:1-16:1-16:0 to sn-16:0-16:1-16:1 was 70.5/29.5. Among the TAGs 16:0/16:0/18:2 and 16:0/16:0/16:1, only ca 5% had C16:0 in the sn-2 position, thus, ca 95% were symmetric sn-16:0-18:2-16:0 and sn-16:0-16:1-16:0. The enantiomeric ratio of triacid-TAGs containing C16:0 and two unsaturated fatty acids (palmitoleic C16:1, oleic C18:1 or linoleic acids C18:2) could not be resolved due to lack of commercial enantiopure reference compounds. However, it became clear that the targeted strategy presented offer unique and convenient method to study the enantiomeric structure of individual TAGs.

Engineering the stereoisomeric structure of seed oil to mimic human milk fat

Human milk fat substitute (HMFS) is a class of structured lipid that is widely used as an ingredient in infant formulas. Like human milk fat, HMFS is characterized by enrichment of palmitoyl (C16:0) groups specifically at the middle (sn-2 or β) position on the glycerol backbone, and there is evidence that triacylglycerol (TAG) with this unusual stereoisomeric structure provides nutritional benefits. HMFS is currently made by in vitro enzyme-based catalysis because there is no appropriate biological alternative to human milk fat. Most of the fat currently used in infant formulas is obtained from plants, which exclude C16:0 from the middle position. In this study, we have modified the metabolic pathway for TAG biosynthesis in the model oilseed Arabidopsis thaliana to increase the percentage of C16:0 at the middle (vs. outer) positions by more than 20-fold (i.e., from ∼3% in wild type to >70% in our final iteration). This level of C16:0 enrichment is comparable to human milk fat. We achieved this by relocating the C16:0-specific chloroplast isoform of the enzyme lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAT) to the endoplasmic reticulum so that it functions within the cytosolic glycerolipid biosynthetic pathway to esterify C16:0 to the middle position. We then suppressed endogenous LPAT activity to relieve competition and knocked out phosphatidylcholine:diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase activity to promote the flux of newly made diacylglycerol directly into TAG. Applying this technology to oilseed crops might provide a source of HMFS for infant formula.

Analytical Techniques in Lipidomics: State of the Art

Current studies related to lipid identification and determination, or lipidomics in biological samples, are one of the most important issues in modern bioanalytical chemistry. There are many articles dedicated to specific analytical strategies used in lipidomics in various kinds of biological samples. However, in such literature, there is a lack of articles dedicated to a comprehensive review of the actual analytical methodologies used in lipidomics. The aim of this article is to characterize the lipidomics methods used in modern bioanalysis according to the methodological point of view: (1) chromatography/separation methods, (2) spectroscopic methods and (3) mass spectrometry and also hyphenated methods. In the first part, we discussed thin layer chromatography (TLC), high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). The second part includes spectroscopic techniques such as Raman spectroscopy (RS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The third part is a synthetic review of mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), hyphenated methods, which include liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and also multidimensional techniques. Other aspects are the possibilities of the application of the described methods in lipidomics studies. Due to the fact that the exploration of new methods of lipidomics analysis and their applications in clinical and medical studies are still challenging for researchers working in life science, we hope that this review article will be very useful for readers.

Revisión: Aplicación de las técnicas cromatográficas al estudio de triglicéridos y esteroles de la grasa de leche / Review: Application of chromatographic techniques to the study of triglycerides and sterols of milk fat

The latest developments in analytical techniques, mainly chromatographic, for the study of triglycer ides (TG) and sterols in milk fat are revised. Gas chromatography (GC) with packed or short capillary columns has been used to separate TG according to their carbon numbers (CN) and can be applied to the detection of foreign fats in milk fat. Combined or hyphenated chromatographic techniques are indispensable in order to identify and quantify individual molecular species of TG: thin layer chro matography (TLC) or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with Ag+ as prefraction stage, followed by supercritical fluid chromatography, GC with long capillary column, and HPLC with reverse phase and mass spectrometry as detector. These techniques, along with non-specific and/or specific hydrolysis procedures, have allowed a better knowledge of the positional distribution of the fatty acids within the molecules of TG. Concerning the study of the esterol fraction, the supression of the stages of fat extraction—separation of the insaponifiable and derivatization—previous to the analy sis by GC represents a considerable advance that should be in part attributed to the improvement of the chromatographic techniques.

Enzymatic Analysis of Positional Fatty Acid Distributions in Triacylglycerols by 1(3)-Selective Transesterification with Candida antarctica Lipase B: a Collaborative Study

The positional distributions of fatty acids (FAs) in fats and oils are principally analyzed by selectively transesterifying the target triacylglycerols (TAGs) at the 1(3) position using Pseudozyma (Candida) antarctica lipase, followed by recovering the resulting 2-monoacylglycerols (MAGs) by chromatography. FA compositions were measured by gas chromatography (GC) after methylating target TAGs and 2-MAGs. The method was collaboratively evaluated by 12 laboratories by analyzing the positional FA distributions in soybean, palm, and sardine oils. The maximum reproducibility relative standard deviations for the major FAs and those at the sn-2 positions of soybean, palm, and sardine oils were 4.41% and 3.92% (18:3n-3), 4.48% and 3.82% (18:0), and 8.93 and 8.24% (14:0), respectively. The values at the sn-2 position were always low. Therefore, these results indicated that the variations were mainly caused by the FA analysis procedure, i.e., the methylation and GC analyses, rather than the enzymatic transesterification and chromatography utilized to prepare 2-MAGs from the target oil.

The Collaborative Study on the Enzymatic Analysis of Positional Distribution of Short- and Medium-chain Fatty Acids in Milk Fat Using Immobilized Candida antarctica Lipase B

The positional distributions of fatty acids (FAs) in milk fat containing short- and medium-chain FAs were analyzed by sn-1(3)-selective transesterification of triacylglycerols (TAGs) with ethanol using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB), in a collaborative study conducted by 10 laboratories. The mean C4:0, C6:0, and C8:0 FA contents, when analyzed as propyl esters (PEs) using gas chromatography (GC) with a DB-23 capillary column, were found to be 3.0, 2.0, and, 1.3 area%, respectively. Their reproducibility standard deviations were 0.33, 0.18, and 0.19, respectively. The mean C4:0, C6:0, and C8:0 contents at the sn-2 position were 0.3, 0.4, and 1.0 area%, respectively. Their reproducibility standard deviations were 0.17, 0.11, and 0.19, respectively. The reproducibility standard deviations of C4:0, C6:0, and C8:0 FAs at the sn-2 position were either the same as or smaller than those for milk fat, although the FA contents at the sn-2 position were smaller than those in the milk fat. Therefore, it was concluded that the CALB method for estimating the regiospecific distribution is applicable to TAGs containing short- and medium-chain FAs. When estimating the short-chain (SC) FA contents in fats and oils by GC, it is better to analyze SCFAs as PEs or butyl esters, and not as methyl esters, in order to prevent loss of SCFAs during the experimental procedure because of their volatility and water solubility. This study also revealed that the stationary phase of the GC capillary column affected the flame ionization detector (FID) response of SCFAs. The theoretical FID correction factor (MWFA / active carbon number / atomic weight of carbon) fitted well with the actual FID responses of C4:0-C12:0 FAs when they were analyzed as PEs using a DB-23 column; however, this was not the case when the GC analysis was performed using wax-type columns.

Characterization of triacylglycerol enantiomers using chiral HPLC/APCI-MS and synthesis of enantiomeric triacylglycerols

In this work, the first systematic characterization of triacylglycerol (TG) enantiomers in real samples using chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) is performed. Our chiral HPLC/APCI-MS method is based on the use of two cellulose-tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) columns connected in series using a gradient of hexane-2-propanol mobile phase. All TG enantiomers containing 1-8 DBs and different fatty acyl chain lengths are separated using our chiral HPLC method except for TGs having a combination of saturated and di- or triunsaturated fatty acyls in sn-1 and sn-3 positions. In our work, the randomization reaction of monoacyl TG standards is used for the preparation of all TG enantiomers and regioisomers in a mixture, while the stereospecific esterification of 1,2- or 2,3-isopropylidene-sn-glycerols by selected fatty acids is used for the synthesis of TG enantiomers. The composition of TG enantiomers and regioisomers in hazelnut oil and human plasma samples is determined. Unsaturated fatty acids are preferentially esterified in sn-2 position in hazelnut oil, while no significant preference of saturated or unsaturated fatty acyls is observed in case of human plasma sample. Fatty acids with the higher number of DBs are preferred in sn-1 position of TG enantiomers in hazelnut oil unlike to moderate sn-3 preference in human plasma. The characterization of cholesteryl esters from TG fraction of human plasma sample using our chiral HPLC/APCI-MS method is presented as well.

Triacylglycerol stereospecific analysis and linear discriminant analysis for milk speciation

Product authenticity is an important topic in dairy sector. Dairy products sold for public consumption must be accurately labelled in accordance with the contained milk species. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), a common chemometric procedure, has been applied to fatty acid% composition to classify pure milk samples (cow, ewe, buffalo, donkey, goat). All original grouped cases were correctly classified, while 90% of cross-validated grouped cases were correctly classified. Another objective of this research was the characterisation of cow-ewe milk mixtures in order to reveal a common fraud in dairy field, that is the addition of cow to ewe milk. Stereospecific analysis of triacylglycerols (TAG), a method based on chemical-enzymatic procedures coupled with chromatographic techniques, has been carried out to detect fraudulent milk additions, in particular 1, 3, 5% cow milk added to ewe milk. When only TAG composition data were used for the elaboration, 75% of original grouped cases were correctly classified, while totally correct classified samples were obtained when both total and intrapositional TAG data were used. Also the results of cross validation were better when TAG stereospecific analysis data were considered as LDA variables. In particular, 100% of cross-validated grouped cases were obtained when 5% cow milk mixtures were considered.

Contribution of mass spectrometry to assess quality of milk-based products

The vast knowledge of milk chemistry has been extensively used by the dairy manufacturing industry to develop and optimize the modern technology required to produce high-quality milk products to which we are accustomed. A thorough understanding of the chemistry of milk and its numerous components is essential for designing processing equipment and conditions needed for the manufacture and distribution of high-quality dairy products. Knowledge and application of milk chemistry is also indispensable for fractionating milk into its principal components for use as functional and nutritional ingredients by the food industry. For all these reasons, powerful analytical methods are required. Because of the complexity of the milk matrix, mass spectrometry, coupled or not to separation techniques, constitutes a key tool in this area. In the present manuscript, we review the contribution and potentialities of mass spectrometry-based techniques to assess quality of milk-based products.

Calcium and bone health in infants

Osteopenia, rickets, and fractures from nutrient deficiencies can occur during infancy, particularly in preterm infants. Bone mass accretion during the first year of life is equal to or greater than that achieved at any other stage of life, including adolescence. Optimizing calcium and bone status during infancy can have immediate benefits in maintaining calcium homeostasis and preventing disturbances in bone mineralization and can provide long-term benefits by helping infants to later reach their maximum genetic potential for peak bone mass, a prerequisite for the prevention of osteoporosis and its complications. Dietary calcium requirements during infancy generally reflect the need to achieve normal growth and bone mineralization because 99 percent of total body calcium is present in the skeleton. Knowledge of physiologic factors that determine infant calcium requirements and the bioavailability of calcium from various dietary sources is important to ensuring bone health during infancy. Also key are the practical issues related to optimizing calcium nutriture in infants born at term and prematurely.

Reduced bone mineralization in infants fed palm olein-containing formula: a randomized, double-blinded, prospective trial

OBJECTIVE

Palm and palm olein (PO) oils are used in some infant formula fat blends to match the fatty acid profile of human milk, but their presence has been shown to lower calcium and fat absorption. We aimed to determine if the reported differences in calcium absorption could affect skeletal development by comparing bone mineral accretion in healthy term infants fed a milk-based formula with (PMF) or without PO.

METHODS

Whole body bone mineralization was evaluated in healthy term infants fed 1 of 2 coded, commercially available, ready-to-feed infant formulas in a randomized, double-blind, parallel study. Subjects were fed either 1). PMF formula (Enfamil with iron; Mead Johnson Division of Bristol Myers, Evansville, IN; N = 63) containing PO/coconut/soy/high-oleic sunflower oils (45/20/20/15% oil); or 2). milk-based formula without PO (Similac with iron; Ross Products Division Abbott Laboratories, Columbus, OH; N = 65), containing high-oleic safflower/coconut/soy oils (40/30/30% oil) from enrollment by 2 weeks after birth until 6 months. Anthropometrics and formula intake were determined monthly; total body bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured at baseline, 3, and 6 months of age using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS

Intent-to-treat analyses indicated no significant differences between feeding groups in weight, length, head circumference, or formula intake throughout the study. BMC and BMD were not different at baseline but repeated measures analyses show that infants fed PMF had significantly lower BMC and BMD at 3 and 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthy term infants fed a formula containing PO as the predominant oil in the fat blend had significantly lower BMC and BMD than those fed a formula without PO. The inclusion of PO in infant formula at levels needed to provide a fatty acid profile similar to that of human milk leads to lower bone mineralization.

Structural and compositional changes in very low density lipoprotein triacylglycerols during basal lipolysis

Triacylglycerols secreted by liver and carried by very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) are hydrolysed in circulation by lipoprotein and hepatic lipases. These enzymes have been shown to have positional and fatty acid specificity in vitro. If there were specificity in basal lipolysis in vivo, triacylglycerol compositions of circulating and newly secreted VLDL would be different. To study this we compared the composition of normal fasting VLDL triacylglycerol of Wistar rats to that obtained after blocking lipolysis by Triton WR1339, which increased plasma VLDL triacylglycerol concentration about 4.7-fold in 2 h. Analyses of molecular species of sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-diacylglycerol moieties and stereospecific triacylglycerol analysis revealed major differences between the groups in the VLDL triacylglycerol composition. In nontreated rats, the proportion of 16:0 was higher and that of 18:2n-6 lower in the sn-1 position. The proportion of 14:0 was lower in all positions and that of 18:0 was lower in the sn-1 and sn-3 positions in nontreated rats whereas the proportions of 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, 22:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 were higher in the sn-1 and lower in the sn-2 position. These results suggest that the fatty acid of the sn-1 position is the most decisive factor in determining the sensitivity for hydrolysis of the triacylglycerol. In addition, triacylglycerol species with highly unsaturated fatty acids in the sn-2 position also favoured hydrolysis. The in vivo substrate specificity followed only partly that obtained in in vitro studies indicating that the nature of molecular association of fatty acids in natural triacylglycerol affects its susceptibility to lipolysis. To conclude, our results indicate that preferential basal lipolysis leads to major structural differences between circulating and newly secreted VLDL triacylglycerol. These differences extend beyond those anticipated from analysis of total fatty acids and constitute a previously unrecognized feature of VLDL triacylglycerol metabolism.

Analysis of diastereomeric DAG naphthylethylurethanes by normal-phase HPLC with on-line electrospray MS

Normal-phase HPLC resolution of sn-1,2(2,3)- and x-1,3-DAG generated by partial Grignard degradation from natural TAG was carried out with both (R)-(-) and (S)-(+)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethylurethane derivatives. The diastereomeric sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-DAG derivatives were resolved using two Supelcosil LC-Si (5 microm, 25 cm x 4.6 mm i.d.) columns in series and an isocratic elution with 0.37% isopropanol in hexane at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. The DAG were detected by UV absorption at 280 nm and were identified by electrospray ionization MS in the positive ion mode following postcolumn addition of chloroform/methanol/30% ammonium hydroxide (75:24.5:0.5, by vol) at 0.6 mL/min. Application of the method to a stereospecific analysis of the molecular species of TAG of rat VLDL showed that the TAG composition of VLDL circulating under basal conditions differs markedly from that of VLDL secreted by the liver during inhibition of serum lipases. The inhibition of serum lipases resulted in a significant proportional decrease in 16:0 and PUFA and an increase in 18:0 and oligoenoic FA in the sn-1-position, whereas the FA compositions in the sn-2- and sn-3-positions were much less affected.

Optical resolution of asymmetric triacylglycerols by chiral-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple method for direct optical resolution of some asymmetric triacylglycerols (TGs) has been established. The method employs chiral-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). An enantiomeric pair of TGs comprising 1-eicosapentaenoyl-2,3-dicapryroyl-sn-glycerol (ECC) and 1,2-dicapryroyl-3-eicosapentaenoyl-sn-glycerol (CCE) was resolved on a CHIRALCEL OF or on a CHIRALCEL OD column. The separation of another pair of asymmetric TGs, 1-docosahexaenoyl-2,3-dicapryroyl-sn-glycerol (DCC) and 1,2-dicapryroyl-3-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycerol (CCD), was achieved with the CHIRALCEL OD column. The chiral-phase HPLC method in combination with silver-ion HPLC and high-temperature gas chromatography was used for monitoring two interesterification reactions, whose products were chiral TGs. Interesterification of tricapryloylglycerol with ethyleicosapentaenoate or with ethyldocosahexaenoate was performed using Rhizomucor miehei lipase as the catalyst. The products targeted were the asymmetric pair of TGs, ECC and CCE or DCC and CCD. The amounts of sn-1-substituted products (ECC or DCC) were greater than their sn-3-substituted counterparts (CCE or CCD) throughout the reaction period, suggesting that R. miehei lipase had a stereopreference towards the sn-1 position over the sn-3 position.

Software (MSPECTRA) for automatic interpretation of triacylglycerol molecular mass distribution spectra and collision induced dissociation product ion spectra obtained by ammonia negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry

Rapid analysis of molecular mass distributions of triacylglycerol (TAG) mixtures and regioisomeric structures of selected molecular mass species is possible using ammonia negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry utilizing sample introduction by direct exposure probe. However, interpretation of spectra and calculation of results is time consuming, thus lengthening the total analysis time. To facilitate result calculation a software package (MSPECTRA 1.3) was developed and applied to automatic processing of triacylglycerol molecular mass distribution spectra and collision induced dissociation (CID) product ion spectra. The program is capable of identifying triacylglycerol molecular mass species possessing different ACN:DB (acyl carbon number:number of double bonds) ratios on the basis of m/z values of [M - H](-) ions. In addition to such identification the program also corrects spectra for abundances of naturally occurring (13)C isotopes and calculates relative proportions of triacylglycerol molecular species in the analyzed samples. If several replicate spectra are processed simultaneously the program automatically calculates an average and standard deviation of relative proportions of molecular species. In the case of CID spectra the program identifies fatty acid fragment ions [RCO(2)](-) and the corresponding [M - H - RCO(2)H - 100](-) ions, and calculates the relative proportions of ions in both groups. These proportions are then used automatically to calculate the fatty acid combinations comprising the parent triacylglycerol molecule and the regiospecific positions of fatty acids. Processing of several replicate product ion spectra simultaneously produces averaged proportions of regioisomers comprising the parent triacylglycerol molecular species and the standard deviation of the analysis. The performance of the program was tested by analyzing triacylglycerol samples of human milk, human milk substitutes, human chylomicron and cocoa butter, and by comparing results obtained by automated processing of the data with manually calculated results.

Update on solid-phase extraction for the analysis of lipid classes and related compounds

This article provides information on the different procedures and methodologies developed when solid-phase extraction (SPE) is used for lipid component separation. The analytical systematics, established by different authors and designed to separate groups of compounds and also specific components by using a combination of chromatographic supports and solvents are presented. The review has been divided into three parts, which we consider well defined: edible fats and oils, fatty foods and biological samples. Separations of non-polar and polar lipids is the most extensive systematic, although many other published methods have been established to isolate specific components or a reduced number of components from edible fats and oils, fatty foods or biological samples susceptible to further analysis by other quantitative techniques.