DETERMINATION OF PETROSELINIC, CIS-VACCENIC AND OLEIC ACIDS IN SOME SEED OILS OF THE UMBELLIFERAE BY SILVER ION THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY OF THEIR PHENACYL ESTERS

A method is proposed for the determination of petroselinic, oleic and cis-vaccenic acids in plants of the Umbelliferae by using silver ion t hin layer chromatography and densitometry. The fatty acids are first c onverted into phenacyl esters and this enables base line separation at ambient temperature on a plate impregnated with 1% methanolic silver nitrate. Conditions were found for the simultaneous determination of t he saturated and dienoic fatty acids while maintaining the resolution of petroselinic and oleic acids, The procedure is suitable for screeni ng plants of the Umbelliferae in phytochemical and selection studies, and may be of value as a small-scale preparative technique.