Content of Erucic Acid in Edible Oils and Mustard by Quantitative 13C NMR

Abstract

High content of erucic acid in foods and edible oils is a major concern. The excessive consumption of erucic acid has been linked to heart diseases. Therefore, accurate, rapid and direct analysis of the erucic acid content is particularly crucial. However, most of the analytical methods involve time-consuming sample preparation and chromatography analyses. As a result, quantitative ¹³C NMR was developed and the total content of erucic acid in a wide variety of edible oils and mustard products were analysed within 58 minutes. Meanwhile, the positional distribution of fatty acids in triacylglycerols and mustard products could be done effortlessly. An additional peak, namely, erucic acid peak was detected at 173.19 ppm has not been reported previously. Apart from that, the detection limit of erucic acid (0.98% (m/m)) and coefficient of determination (R² = 0.9977) both were investigated by the current method. The total content of erucic acid showed an excellent quantitative relation between reference method (gas chromatography) and quantitative ¹³C NMR. In this study, mustard oil and few mustard products exceeded the permitted maximum levels established for erucic acid (European Union: 5%, United State: 2%).

Practical Applications: Erucic acid in mustard products and edible oils were determined. The excessive consumption of erucic acid can cause some healthy problems. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the tolerable intake of erucic acid. The results of this study can be applied to monitor and quantify the erucic acid content quickly in a wide variety of edible oils and mustard products without any laborious chemical derivatisation prior to the analysis.

http://ift.tt/2jkY8Sm