Programmable Temperature Vaporizer (PTV) Applied to the Triglyceride Analysis of Milk Fat

Abstract

The PTV (Programmable Temperature Vaporizer) is a split/splitless injector which allows the sample to be introduced at a relatively low temperature, thus affording accurate and reproducible sampling. After injection the PTV is rapidly heated to transfer the vaporized components into the capillary column. This type of injector has proved to be an efficient tool for the evaluation of fatty acids, essential oils, and pesticides in food analysis. In this work the suitability of PTV for the analysis of milk fat purity by the Official EU method was evaluated. This method is based on the gas chromatographic determination of triglycerides only according to their total number of carbon atoms followed by the application of formulae deriving from multiple linear regressions. The analysis is currently carried out with a packed column or a short capillary column and an on-column injection system. Several samples of pure milk fat and mixtures of milk fat with foreign fat were analyzed with the same capillary column and by using both PTV and on-column injection systems. The results show that the gas chromatographic profile obtained by PTV is comparable with that obtained by the on-column injector, while repeatability and reproducibility data meet the requirements indicated in the Official Method. Therefore, this study demonstrates that it is possible to use the PTV instead of the on-column injector to determine the purity of milk fat with this method.