Food Analytical Methods

, Volume 9, Issue 3, pp 630–637 | Cite as

Determination of Fatty Acids in Beef by Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

  • Laiel C. Soliman
  • Elizabeth M. Andrucson
  • Kingsley K. Donkor
  • John S. Church
  • Bruno Cinel
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

A method was developed to separate, identify, and quantify 28 fatty acids of potential health relevance using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). Optimization of the experimental factors enabled baseline separation of the fatty acids including three pairs of closely related fatty acid isomers (C18:3n-3 and C18:3n-6; C18:1 and C18:1 t; and C20:3n-3 and C20:3n-6) that are challenging to separate. The limits of detection ranged from 0.01 to 0.26 mg L−1 for the 28 fatty acids, and average recovery (mean, n = 4) was found to be 102 ± 12 %. In addition, the proposed method was validated using a quality control standard mix of fatty acids which yielded acceptable precision and accuracy. Fatty acid concentrations in conventional grain-fed and organic grass-fed beef were determined, and the results show that grass-fed beef have a lower omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (1.6–2.8) compared to grain-fed beef (9.3–13.5). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on the resulting data to find correlations between significant fatty acid composition and the diet of beef samples.

Keywords

Beef Omega fatty acids Polyunsaturated fatty acids Liquid chromatography Mass spectrometry Principal component analysis 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by funding from Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia through the British Columbia’s Ranching Task Force Funding Initiative, with JS Church as principal investigator of the funding. We also acknowledge Thompson Rivers University for the use of their facilities and instrumentations. The LC/MS instrument used was funded by Western Economic Diversification of Canada.

Conflict of Interest

Laiel C. Soliman declares that she has no conflict of interest. Elizabeth M. Andrucson declares that she has no conflict of interest. Kingsley K. Donkor declares that he has no conflict of interest. John S. Church declares that he has no conflict of interest. Bruno Cinel declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Compliance with Ethics Standards

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

References

  1. Aldai N, Dugan MER, Rolland DC, Kramer JKG (2009) Survey of the fatty acid composition of Canadian beef: Backfat and longissimus lumborum muscle. Can J Anim Sci 89:315–329CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Bielawska K, Dziakowska I, Roszkowska-Jakimiec W (2010) Chromatographic determination of fatty acids in biological material. Toxicol Mech Methods 20:526–537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (2014) Guide to food labelling and advertising, Chapter -Nutrient content claims. Section 7.19: Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid claims. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/ch7be.shtml (02.21.14)
  4. Czauderna M, Kowalczyk J, Korniluk K, Wasowska I (2007) Improved saponification than mild base and acid-catalyzed methylation is a useful method for quantifying fatty acids, with special emphasis on conjugated dienes. Acta Chromatogr 18:59–71Google Scholar
  5. Daley CA, Abbott A, Doyle PS, Nader GA, Larson S (2010) A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Nutr J 9:1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Folch J, Lees M, Stanley GHS (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509Google Scholar
  7. Gerber M (2009) Background review paper on total fat, fatty acid intake and cancers. Ann Nutr Metabol 55:140–161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Gomez CC, Bermejo LLM, Loria KV (2011) Importance of a balanced omega 6/omega 3 ratio for the maintenance of health.Nutritional recommendations. Nutr Hosp 26:323–329Google Scholar
  9. Griinari JM, Corl BA, Lacy SH, Chouinard PY, Nurmela KVV, Bauman DE (2000) Conjugated linoleic acid is synthesized endogenously in lactating dairy cows by Delta(9)-desaturase. J Nutr 130:2285–2291Google Scholar
  10. Juarez M, Dugan MER, Aalhus JL, Aldai N, Basarab JA, Baron VS, McAllister TA (2011) Effects of vitamin E and flaxseed on rumen-derived fatty acid intermediates in beef intramuscular fat. Meat Sci 88:434–440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Kanicky JR, Shah DO (2002) Effect of degree, type, and position of unsaturation on the pKa of long-chain fatty acids. J Colloid Interface Sci 256:201–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Lacaze J-PCL, Stobo LA, Turrell EA, Quilliam MA (2007) Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of free fatty acids in shellfish. J Chromatogr A 1145:51–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Marini D, Marini F (2012) Neutral Lipids. In: Nollet LML, Toldra F (eds) Food analysis by HPLC, 3rd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp 140–217Google Scholar
  14. Persson XT, Blachnio-Zabielska AU, Jensen MD (2010) Rapid measurement of plasma free fatty acid concentration and isotopic enrichment using LC/MS. J Lipid Res 51:2761–2765CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Ratnayake WMN, Galli C (2009) Fat and fatty acid terminology, methods of analysis andfat digestion and metabolism: abackground review paper. Ann Nutr Metabol 55:8–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Ruiz-Rodriguez A, Reglero G, Ibanez E (2010) Recent trends in the advanced analysis of bioactive fatty acids. J Pharm Biomed Anal 51:305–326CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Simopoulos AP (2008) The importance of the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio in cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Exp Biol Med 233:674–688CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Soliman LC, Donkor KK, Church JS, Cinel B, Prema D, Dugan MER (2013) Separation of dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in food by capillary electrophoresis. J SepSci 36:3440–3448Google Scholar
  19. Wei G, Zeng EY (2011) Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in quantifying fatty acids. Trends Anal Chem 30:1429–1436CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Laiel C. Soliman
    • 1
  • Elizabeth M. Andrucson
    • 1
  • Kingsley K. Donkor
    • 1
  • John S. Church
    • 2
  • Bruno Cinel
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Physical SciencesThompson Rivers UniversityKamloopsCanada
  2. 2.Department of Natural Resource SciencesThompson Rivers UniversityKamloopsCanada

Personalised recommendations