Separation of milk fat triacylglycerols by argentation thin-layer chromatography
1998
Robinson, N.P. | MacGibbon, A.K.H.
Argentation thin-layer chromatography was investigated as a method of obtaining detailed compositional information about milk fat. A modified argentation thin-layer chromatography procedure, developed to optimize the separation of the complex mixture of total milk fat triacylglycerols, provided nine different groups of triacylglycerols, based on both the degree of unsaturation and the total length of fatty acid groups. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis was performed to determine the composition of each band. Separation on the basis of chainlength was most pronounced among the fully saturated triacylglycerol groups, as evidenced by the high level of C₄:₀ and C₆:₀ in bands 7 and 8, respectively. For the cis-monoenoic triacylglycerols, the separation of C₄:₀ and C₆:₀ was less distinct. The cis,cis dienes and other dienoic, trienoic, or tetraenoic species were principally observed in two bands of retention factor <0.08 on the chromatography plate. Minimal cross-contamination of bands was observed, with the exception of the lowest of the trisaturate bands, band 7, in which trans-monoenes were found to be present. Three samples from different points of the New Zealand dairy season were separated by argentation thin-layer chromatography, and their FAME distributions were measured. In addition to differences in the masses of band extracts from these samples, levels of C₁₀:₀ and C₁₂:₀ in all bands, and levels of monounsaturates in the dienoic and trienoic bands, were found to differ. These changes were generally consistent with a pattern of decreasing fat hardness over the November to March period of a typical dairy season.
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