Identification of fatty acids in gas chromatography by application of different temperature and pressure programs on a single capillary column

A method for the identification of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) based on the analysis of shifts in equivalent chain lengths (ECL) is described. The method is based on two-dimensional retention data achieved on one capillary column. Various temperature and pressure programs are applied on the same cyanopropyl column and the shifts in the ECL values are analysed by multivariate methods. The chain length, number of double bonds, and the double bond positions can be determined with high accuracy. The same procedure is suitable for determination of the number of trans and cis double bonds in trans fatty acids, and for detection of artefacts in fatty acid methyl ester chromatograms.