Development of a simulation program for the analysis of oils and fats by subcritical fluid chromatography Original Research Article

A simulation program was developed for the analysis of oils and fats by subcritical fluid chromatography (SubFC). Fatty acid (FA) and triglyceride (TG) compositions of oils and fats were determined as a set of values which give a maximum overlapping between observed and simulated chromatograms. Observed chromatograms were obtained with SubFC using an octadecyl-silica (ODS) column, carbon dioxide mobile phase and flame ionization detector (FID), and simulated ones were produced from predicted retentions of TGs and TG compositions. Three types of pattern-fitting methods were considered. The first determines the FA compositions of oils and fats in which FAs are combined with glycerol at random. The second determines each FA composition and the mixing ratio of blended oils composed of two oils in which FAs are combined with glycerol at random. The third determines the TG compositions, allowing the analysis of oils and fats in which FAs are selectively combined to glycerol. Verification of the program by using authentic chromatograms demonstrated that all three methods work well although the second method fails in cases where one component is in large excess. Applications were demonstrated for various oils and fats.