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Analysis of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Fecal Samples by Headspace-Gas Chromatography

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Abstract

The level of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) is related to health benefits. In this study, a static headspace (HS) gas chromatography method was developed and validated for analyzing SCFAs in fecal samples. SCFAs were injected onto a column through an HS injector through an HS procedure and salting-out technology. The limits of detection and quantification (LOQ) of this method are 0.02–0.08 µg L− 1 (0.4–1.6 µg g− 1 sample) and 0.005–0.020 µg L− 1 (0.1–0.4 µg g− 1 sample), respectively. The calibration curves show good linearity over the range (LOQ–200 µg L− 1 or LOQ–4000 µg g− 1 sample) of these compounds, and the correlation coefficient is > 0.99. The recovery of the method is between 80 and 105%, and matrix effects were not observed. The proposed method was successfully applied to analyze SCFAs in fecal samples from rats.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Foundation (No. 2017KF001) of Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of Ministry of Education and Tianjin Key Lab of Industrial Microbiology (Tianjin University of Science & Technology) and the Foundation (No. ZXKF20180304) of Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control.

Funding

This work has been supported by the Foundation (No. 2017KF001) of Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of Ministry of Education and Tianjin Key Lab of Industrial Microbiology (Tianjin University of Science & Technology) and the Foundation (No. ZXKF20180304) of Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control.

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Author notes

  1. Chaozheng Zhang, Ping Tang and Huijing Xu contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Chaozheng Zhang, Ping Tang, Yanru Weng, Qiaoqiao Tang & Hua Zhao

  2. Tianjin Food Safety Inspection Technology Institute, Tianjin, 300308, China

    Huijing Xu

Authors
  1. Chaozheng Zhang
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  2. Ping Tang
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  3. Huijing Xu
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  4. Yanru Weng
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  5. Qiaoqiao Tang
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  6. Hua Zhao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chaozheng Zhang or Hua Zhao.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Zhang, C., Tang, P., Xu, H. et al. Analysis of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Fecal Samples by Headspace-Gas Chromatography. Chromatographia 81, 1317–1323 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-018-3572-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-018-3572-7

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