Characterization of plant oils on a monolithic silica column by high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical lonization-mass spectrometry

Summary Five plant oils (peanut, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, soybean, and wheat germ) have been analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS). Gradient elution was performed with acetone-acetonitrile mobile phases on a short monolithic silica column (SilicaROD, RP-18e, 50 mm×4.6 mm). Identification of plant oil triacylglycerols (TAG) was based on the pseudomolecular ion [M+H]⁺ and the diacylglycerol [M−RCO₂]⁺ fragments. Positional isomers of triacylglycerols were identified from the relative intensities of the [M-RCO₂]⁺ fragments. Principal-component analysis, used to find similarities and differences between the different oils, indicated that the different plant oils could be clearly differentiated according to their triacylglycerol composition. Presented at Balaton Symposium '01 on High-Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September 2–4, 2001