Abstract
Fatty acids (FAs) are involved in a wide range of functions in biological systems. It is important to measure the exact amount of fatty acids in biological matrices in order to determine the level of fatty acids and understand the role they play. The ability to quantify fatty acids in various systems, especially plant species and microbes has recently paved the way to the mass production of pharmaceuticals and energy substitutes including biodiesel. This chapter describes an efficient method to quantify the total fatty acids (TFAs) in biological systems using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a commercially available standard mix of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) using a step-by-step methodology to setup a quantitation method using the Agilent Chemstation software.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Christie WW, Han X (2010) Lipid analysis – isolation, separation, identification and lipidomic analysis, 4th edn. Oily Press, Bridgewater
Kumari P, Reddy CRK, Jha B (2011) Comparative evaluation and selection of a method for lipid and fatty acid. Anal Biochem 415:134–144
Roessner U, Wagner C, Kopka J, Trethewey RN, Willmitzer L (2000) Simultaneous analysis of metabolites in potato tuber by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Plant J 23:131–142
Folch J, Lees M, Stanley GHS (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509
Goetz N, Burgaud H, Berrebi C, Bore P (1984) Analysis of the lipid content of single hair bulbs. Comparison with the content of the sebaceous gland and with surface lipids. J Soc Cosmet Chem 35:411–422
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Jayasinghe, N.S., Dias, D.A. (2013). A Robust GC-MS Method for the Quantitation of Fatty Acids in Biological Systems. In: Roessner, U., Dias, D. (eds) Metabolomics Tools for Natural Product Discovery. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1055. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-577-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-577-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-576-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-577-4
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols