ARS | Publication request: SILMUTANEOUS SEPARATION OF THE MOLECULAR SPECIES OF MONOACYLGLYCEROLS FREE FATTY ACIDS, FATTY ACID METHYL AND ETHYLESTERS BY REVERSED PHASE HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Submitted to: Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 5, 2003
Publication Date: May 1, 2004
Citation: Lin, J.T., Turner, C., Mckeon, T.A. 2004. Silmutaneous separation of the molecular species of monoacylglycerols free fatty acids, fatty acid methyl and ethylesters by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies. 27:1-6.

Interpretive Summary: Ricinoleate (a hydroxy fatty acid) has many industrial uses such as the manufacture of aviation lubricant, plastics, paints, coatings and cosmetics. Its only commercial source is castor bean. Since castor bean contains the toxin ricin as well as potent allergens, it is hazardous to grow, harvest and process. It would be desirable to produce ricinoleate instead in a transgenic oilseed lacking these toxic components. We have recently reported the biosynthetic pathway of castor oil and identified the key enzymatic steps, which drive ricinoleate into castor oil in castor bean. We have also identified and quantified molecular species of various lipid classes incorporated from various radiolabeled fatty acids. Previous HPLC method for the separation of the molecular species of triacylglycerols and diacylgloycerols cannot be used for monoacylglycerols. Here we report the separation method of the molecular species of monoacylglycerols for identification.

Technical Abstract: We have developed a reversed-phase C18 HPLC method to separate molecular species of monoacylglycerols, fatty acids, fatty acid methyl esters and fatty acid ethyl esters simultaneously. This system also separates the regioisomers, 2-acyl-sn-glycerol and 1-acyl-sn-glycerol, with 2-acyl-sn-glycerol eluting earlier than 1-acyl-sn-glycerol. The elution order of the fatty acid and esters was ricinoleate, linolenate, linoleate, palmitate, oleate, and stearate. This method is also useful for the identification of radiolabeled metabolites using co-chromatography.