Simultaneous Determination of Free and Esterified Fatty Alcohols, Phytosterols and Solanesol in Tobacco Leaves by GC

Abstract

A convenient gas chromatographic method equipped with flame ionization detection has been achieved for simultaneously determining six free and esterified fatty alcohols, three phytosterols, and solanesol in tobacco leaves. This analytic method consisted of direct alkaline hydrolysis, ultrasonic-assisted extraction and derivatization to trimethylsilyl ether derivatives. These three procedures did not require complicated and laborious preliminary purification steps of samples prior to GC, and the method was simple and convenient. The recovery of all target compounds was in the range of 85–105%, the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 4%, and limits of detection (LOD) varied from 0.1–0.4 μg mL−1. The optimized methodology was successfully applied to determine free and esterified fatty alcohols, phytosterols and solanesol contents of different type tobacco samples.