Comparison of gas chromatographic and gravimetric methods for quantization of total fat and fatty acids in foodstuffs

• Main Authors: Sabria Aued-Pimentel, Mahyara Markievicz Mancio Kus, Edna Emy Kumagai, Valter Ruvieri, Odair Zenebon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2010-01-01
• Series: Química Nova
• Subjects: total fat; fatty acids; nutritional labeling
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422010000100015

Different methods to determine total fat (TF) and fatty acids (FA), including trans fatty acids (TFA), in diverse foodstuffs were evaluated, incorporating gravimetric methods and gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC/FID), in accordance with a modified AOAC 996.06 method. Concentrations of TF and FA obtained through these different procedures diverged (p< 0.05) and TFA concentrations varied beyond 20 % of the reference values. The modified AOAC 996.06 method satisfied both accuracy and precision, was fast and employed small amounts of low toxicity solvents. Therefore, the results showed that this methodology is viable to be adopted in Brazil for nutritional labeling purposes.