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1H NMR Quantification of DHA and EPA in Fish Oil

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Abstract

Fish oil is a popular nutritional product consumed in China. The beneficial effects of fish oil have been attributed to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Hence, it is crucial to develop a rapid and precise method to determine the contents of EPA and DHA in fish oil. In this study, a rapid and accurate proton nuclear magnetic resonance method for the quantification of DHA and EPA was developed. Dimethyl terephthalate was selected as an internal standard, and the signals at 2.391 ppm for DHA and at 1.697 ppm for EPA were chosen for the quantification. Validation of the method was performed in terms of specificity, precision, and stability. The results indicated that the method was precise and in line with the China Food and Drug Administration guidance. The method has been successfully applied to characterize fish oil capsules obtained from four pharmaceutical companies. This study indicated that the rapid 1H NMR method is suitable for the quality control of fish oil.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Open Research Fund Program of Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Glycoscience & Glycotechnology (Ocean University of China), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 201912008, 201964019, and 201851025).

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  1. The two authors contributed equally to the work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Jinxiao Lv, Cong Wang, Xiuli Zhang, Zhihua Lv & Mingming Yu

  2. Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Cong Wang, Xiuli Zhang, Zhihua Lv & Mingming Yu

  3. Key Laboratory of Glycoscience & Glycotechnology of Shandong Province, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Cong Wang, Xiuli Zhang, Zhihua Lv & Mingming Yu

  4. Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Cong Wang, Xiuli Zhang, Zhihua Lv & Mingming Yu

Authors
  1. Jinxiao Lv
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  2. Cong Wang
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  3. Xiuli Zhang
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  4. Zhihua Lv
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  5. Mingming Yu
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Correspondence to Zhihua Lv or Mingming Yu.

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Lv, J., Wang, C., Zhang, X. et al. 1H NMR Quantification of DHA and EPA in Fish Oil. J. Ocean Univ. China 19, 1193–1197 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4395-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4395-3

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