A new analytical method for the quantification of glycidol fatty acid esters in edible oils.

A novel method to quantify glycidol fatty acid esters (GEs), supposed to present as food processing contaminants in edible oils, has been developed in combination with double solid-phase extractions (SPEs) and LC-MS measurements. The analytes were five species of synthetic GEs: glycidol palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid esters. The use of selected ion monitoring in a positive ion mode of atmospheric chemical ionization-MS with a reversed-phase gradient LC provided a limit of quantification of 0.0045-0.012 microg/mL for the standard GEs, which enables the detection of GEs in microg ranges per gram of edible oil. Using the double SPE procedure first in reversed-phase and then in normal-phase second, allowed large amounts of co-existing acylglycerols in the oils to be removed, which improved the robustness and stability of the method in sequential runs of LC-MS measurements. When the method was used to quantify GEs in three commercial sources of edible oils, the recovery% ranged from 71.3 to 94.6% (average 79.4%) with a relative standard deviation of 2.9-12.1% for the two oils containing triacylglycerols as major components, and ranged from 90.8 to 105.1% (average 97.2%) with a relative standard deviation of 2.1-12.0% for the other, diacylglycerol-rich oil. Although the accuracy and precision of the method may not be yet sufficient, it is useful for determining trace levels of GEs and will be helpful for the quality control of edible oils.

Comparison of indirect and direct quantification of glycidol fatty acid ester in edible oils.

Two different methods for determining the levels of glycidol fatty acid esters (GEs) in edible oil-the German official indirect method and the direct LC-MS method-are compared. In some cases, the indirect method showed lower GE levels than the direct method. This was investigated using model studies, which revealed two possible causative factors during the acid treatment of the indirect method: (1) incomplete elimination of GE in oil that was high in GEs initially and (2) generation of GEs and/or its relevant compounds in oil that was rich in partial acylglycerol. Both these factors contributed to the subsequent underestimation of GE levels. The above technical limitations of the indirect method found in the present study has led to the inference that the direct method can more precisely determine the GE levels for a wider range of fats and oil products than the indirect method.