Analytical method development for fatty acid direct methylation in fruits

Abstract

Due to the amount of pigments, sugars and fibers found in fruits, the fatty acid quantification process leads to errors, such as its amount underestimation in the matrix. Therefore, the proposed method allows performing experiments in shorter time with reduced amount of sample and reagent. Design Expert software was used to find the validated time for alkaline and acidic reactions, which were six and eight minutes, respectively, and both concentration was 0.5 mol L-1. The validation was made for avocado pulp and different fruits were used for application of the method, such as: apple, mango, coconut and another avocado variety. Accuracy values ranged from 89.05 to 100.21%, being in accordance with acceptable values. Also the relative standard deviation (RSD)intra-day (0.30 to 1.30%) and the RSDinter-day values (0.32 to 1.44%) confirmed that the proposed method for fatty acid derivatization has good precision. Printed in Brazil-