Regioisomeric structure determination of α- and β-linolenoyldilinoleoylglycerol in blackcurrant seed oil by silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry

gamma-Linolenic acid (Gla) and oils containing Gla have evident positive effects on a variety of disorders, and therefore, the structure of triacylglycerols (TAGs) containing Gla is of special interest. The regioisomeric structures of TAGs 18:3(n-3)/18:2/18:2 (Ala/L/L) and 18:3(n-6)/18:2/18:2 (Gla/L/L) in blackcurrant seed oil were determined by Ag-HPLC/APCI-MS and Ag-HPLC/ESI-MS/MS techniques. In the latter, silver ion adducts were prepared by adding silver nitrate to the postcolumn flow. A new Ag-HPLC solvent system containing nonchlorinated solvents for the separation of Gla- and Ala-containing TAGs is introduced. Ag-HPLC separation of Ala/L/L and Gla/L/L was sufficient and regioisomers sn-LnLL + sn-LLLn and sn-LLnL (Ln, linolenic acid) could be differentiated well with the MS methods used. No discrimination was made between the sn-1 and sn-3 positions. The results show that the methods used are suitable to discriminate and determine the regioisomeric structure of TAGs. The regioisomeric structure of TAG with the fatty acid combination Gla/L/L in blackcurrant seed oil was considered to be practically random (32.7-37.8% of sn-LG1aL). In the fatty acid combination Ala/L/L, the regioisomeric structure is nonrandom (7.3-12.1% of sn-LA1aL) with Ala preferentially in a primary position. It can be concluded that the positional distribution of Ala and Gla is different in Ln/L/L TAGs of blackcurrant seed oil.