Enzymatic hydrolysis-based absolute quantification of triacylglycerols in plant oil by use of a single marker.

Absolute quantification of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in plant oils is a challenge for analysts, because most of the necessary chemical standards are unavailable. In this study, a new method for absolute quantification analysis of multi-components by use of a single marker (AQAMS), using two crucial technologies, evaluation of the collection recovery without chemical standards and enzymatic hydrolysis, was used for determining the absolute content of TAGs in brucea javanica oil (BJO), using glycerol as the marker. The TAGs in BJO were initially characterized using ultrafast liquid chromatography tandem atmospheric-pressure-chemical-ionization mass spectrometry. Then the TAGs in BJO were individually collected, by target-fraction collection via high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with an evaporative-light-scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD), and their recoveries were calculated by use of a novel non-standard evaluated recovery strategy (NSER). The results revealed that the collection procedure was feasible and reliable. Finally, modified commercial TAG assay kits using glycerol as the marker were used to determine the absolute abundance of individual TAGs in the plant oils. Comparing the result with that obtained by HPLC-ELSD analysis using triolein standard, the content of triolein determined by AQAMS was closely matched. The proposed strategy is a practical measure for solving the problem of the lack of chemical standards, and provides a new method for absolute quantification in natural products of multi-components with the same backbone.