CAPILLARY SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF SHARK LIVEROILS

The liver oils of six different shark species have been analyzed by su percritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The liver oils were from the s pecies Pseudotriakis microdon (False catshark), Centroscymnus coelepsi s (Portuguese dogfish), Centrophorus squanosus (Leafscalp gulper shark ), Deanea calceus (Birdbeak dogfish), Etmopterus princips (Greater lan tern shark), and Centroscymnus crepidater (Longnose velvet dogfish). T he method was capable of direct quantitation of squalene and cholester ol, while quantitation of triacylglycerols, cholesterol esters, and di acylglycerol ethers required thin-layer chromatographic fractionation prior to SFC analysis. The iodine values of the liver oil samples gave a linear correlation when plotted against the squalene content found by SFC. The variation of squalene content within one shark species is large, and there are large differences in squalene content from specie s to species. The squalene contents varied between 0.22 and 82.54 wt%. The identity of the glycerol ethers was investigated by SFC of the un saponifiable matter. The major glycerol ethers contained chimyl, batyl , and selachyl alcohol.