Screening analysis of unknown seed oils

In the present paper, modern tools for the screening analysis of unknown se ed oils have been reviewed. The known plant fatty acid structures have been divided into three groups (usual, unusual nonoxygenated, unusual oxygenate d fatty acids) and examples for each class are presented. Moreover. the imp ortance of chemotaxonomy fur the screening analysis of some lipid component s is discussed. The main part of the work is focussed on various aspects of preliminary seed oil analyses for the detection of unusual fatty acids and lipid classes and the analysis of fatty acid derivatives by gas chromatogr aphy and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Furthermore, some useful met hods to obtain rapid information on the configuration of double bonds are c ited. The paper concludes with a scheme for the detection of unusual fatty acids and lipid classes in seed oils.