A rapid headspace gas chromatographic method for the determination of the butyric acid content in edible fats

 A rapid headspace gas chromatographic method for the precise and accurate quantitation of butyric acid in edible fats was developed and validated by means of a reference material with a certified content of butyric acid. Sample preparation consisted only of weighing a fat sample into a suitable container, and adding the transesterification reagent before crimp-sealing the vial. By using an automatic sampler the sample throughput was eight samples per hour. The calibration function relating peak area to butyric acid concentration was linear over the range 0.2 g to 4.5 g per 100 g fat. The relative standard deviation of repeated measurements, as an indicator of the repeatability of the method, was between 0.90 and 1.32%.