Development of a simulation program for the analysis of oils and fats by subcritical fluid chromatography

A simulation program was developed for the analysis of oils and fats by sub critical fluid chromatography (SubFC). Fatty acid (FA) and triglyceride (TG ) compositions of oils and fats were determined as a set of values which gi ve a maximum overlapping between observed and simulated chromatograms. Obse rved chromatograms were obtained with SubFC using an octadecyl-silica (ODS) column, carbon dioxide mobile phase and flame ionization detector (FID), a nd simulated ones were produced from predicted retentions of TGs and TG com positions. Three types of pattern-fitting methods were considered. The firs t determines the FA compositions of oils and fats in which FAs are combined with glycerol at random. The second determines each FA composition and the mixing ratio of blended oils composed of two oils in which FAs are combine d with glycerol at random. The third determines the TG compositions, allowi ng the analysis of oils and fats in which FAs are selectively combined to g lycerol. Verification of the program by using authentic chromatograms demon strated that all three methods work well although the second method fails i n cases where one component is in large excess. Applications were demonstra ted for various oils and fats. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.