Abstract
The identification and quantification of free fatty acids (FFA) in edible and non-edible vegetable oils, including waste cooking oils, is a crucial index to assess their quality and drives their use in different application fields. NMR spectroscopy represents an alternative tool to conventional methods for the determination of FFA content, providing us with interesting advantages. Here the approaches reported in the literature based on 1H, 13C and 31P NMR are illustrated and compared, highlighting the pros and cons of the suggested strategies.
Highlights
Free fatty acids (FFA) are hydrolysis products of triglycerides (TG) in vegetable oils
Short-chain FFA can arise from the secondary oxidation of unsaturated aldehydes as well as from the cleavage of lipid hydroperoxides [1,2]
The FFA concentration in vegetable oils depends on multiple factors, namely the quality and variety of raw material, collecting conditions, processing, storage, the age of the oil and deterioration status [3,4]
Summary
Free fatty acids (FFA) are hydrolysis products of triglycerides (TG) in vegetable oils. The FFA content is important for edible and non-edible vegetable oils as well as WCO, with applications in biodiesel production [5,8]. As strong points of the technique, one can mention that NMR spectroscopy is a non-destructive, non-invasive methodology; it is usually quick and straightforward, and yields information on the composition of a mixture in a single spectrum, without the need for derivatization or pre-treatment of the sample. The usefulness of NMR spectroscopy in this respect has been widely demonstrated [39,40] In this minireview, the focus will be the application of NMR methodology to the determination of the content of FFA in vegetable oils. The reviewed methods are applicable to edible and non-edible oils, as well as WCO, where the determination of the FFA content requires more and more attention
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