DETERMINATION OF TRIACYLGLYCEROL COMPOSITION AND ITS CONTENT IN REFINED AND FRACTIONATED PALM OIL BY USING LC-MS/MS WITH MULTIPLE NEUTRAL LOSS SCAN

Abstract

Palm oil is widely consumed as an edible vegetable oil in many countries. Triacylglycerol (TAG) is the main component of palm oil, and its composition and contents have been extensively linked with physical and chemical properties. However, the identification and quantitation of TAGs is a challenge due to the complexity of the TAG molecule. This study employed LC-MS/MS with multiple neutral loss scans (NLS) to analyse TAG composition and contents in refined and fractionated palm oil. Identifying and quantifying TAGs using LC-MS/MS in combination with multiple-NLS was an efficient way to improve accuracy and timeliness. For accurate quantification of TAGs, isotopic deconvolution and the adjustment factor were applied. A total of 31 TAGs were identified and quantified, and C50:1 (16:0/16:0/18:1) (20.5%-36.0%), C52:2 (16:0/18:1/18:1) (17.8%-25.0%), C52:3 (16:0/18:1/18:2) (7.8%-12.2%), C48:0 (16:0/16:0/16:0) (0.4%-17.4%), and C52:1 (16:0/18:0/18:1) (4.1%-9.3%) were the predominant TAGs depending on refined and fractionated palm oil. The obtained information has been elucidated concerning the fundamental properties of refined and fractioned palm oil, such as hardness and degree of oxidation.