Chromatography Forum

Hi!

Can somebody help me to under stand the calculation of total Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil?
I have problem in identifying all the peaks.

Thanks in advance

What equipment are you working on?

Are you having problems with identification of peaks or doing a basic standard curve?

I am Working on Gas chromatography.

The problem is we get many peaks of fatty acids.

I don't understand what peaks should be considered for total omega-3 fatty acid calculation.

All fatty acids that have 3 double bonds in the chain, like linolenic and arachadonic acids.

Dr. Smart, if you do not know which fatty acids have this structure then perhaps some additional research on your part is necessary. When you purchase a fatty acid mix standard there should be a listing and a chromatogram of different FAMEs.

Without experience it can be VERY confusing which acids are which. Having several different std mixes is helpful in identification of the FAMEs. I recommend you use these to assist you in your work.

best wishes,

Rod

The omega-3 refers to the position of the double bonds, not the number of them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid

There are plenty of examles in the literature how to analyze them quantitatively and what this ratio is.

My thanks to Dr. Mueller for correcting my silly error. He is quite correct.

Arachidonic acid is a omega-6 acid.

Rod