THE COMPOSITION OF NEW-ZEALAND MILK-FAT TRIACYLGLYCEROLS BY REVERSED-PHASE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the purpose of analyzing milk fat triacylglycerols b y evaporative light scattering detection. With a binary solvent system , comprising dichloromethane and acetonitrile, the method allowed a se paration of 61 distinct peaks, on the basis of chainlength and number of double bonds. Triacylglycerols of differing partition numbers were clearly resolved, and the resolution between peaks of the same partiti on number was high. An argentation thin-layer chromatography method, s eparating triacylglycerols on the basis of chainlength and degree of u nsaturation, provided nine band extracts that were analyzed by HPLC. B y using existing fatty acid methyl ester data of these bands, an ident ity for each HPLC peak has been proposed.