MONITORING OF LIPASE-CATALYZED CLEAVAGE OF ACYLGLYCEROLS BY HIGH-TEMPERATURE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

High-temperature gas chromatography was applied to assay the activity and selectivity of lipases, and to test various reaction conditions. T his technique is capable to analyze mixtures of fatty acids and acylgl ycerols simultaneously and, therefore, to monitor the hydrolysis of ac ylglycerols. Lipases can catalyze the hydrolysis of acylglycerols in a queous solution. The reaction conditions employed are milder than thos e of conventional chemical hydrolysis. In practice, this method was us ed in the sample preparation procedure for the quantitative analysis o f gamma-linolenic acid in triacylglycerols.