Simultaneous quantification of epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids as oxidation products of triacylglycerols in edible oils

Epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids are important intermediates during lipid oxidation; quantification of both structures may help evaluate the extent of competition among various lipid oxidation pathways. This article describes a method to simultaneously determine saturated- and unsaturated- epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids derived from oxidation of vegetable oils. The experimental procedures employed transesterification with sodium methoxide, separation of epoxy and hydroxy fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) using solid-phase extraction (SPE), and trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatization of hydroxy groups. GC-MS was used to identify the epoxy and hydroxy FAME in two different SPE fractions, while GC-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was used to determine their quantities. Epoxy-octadecanoate/octadecenoate and hydroxy-octadecanoate/octadecenoate/octadecadienoate were determined as lipid oxidation products generated from oxidation of sunflower and canola oils. An isomer of methyl 13-hydroxyoctadeca-9,11-dienoate (13-HODE) TMS ether co-eluted with methyl 15-hydroxyoctadeca-9,12-dienoate TMS ether, which was only present in canola oil; thus, GC-MS-selected ion monitoring (GC-MS-SIM) was used to determine the concentration of 13-HODE. The proposed method has been successfully applied to monitor epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids in sunflower oil and canola oil oxidized at 40 °C.