Recently, the n-3 very-long-chain PUFA (n-3 VLC-PUFA) have received attention due to their abundance and highly specialized role in various mammalian tissues and their potential health promoting properties. They have a chain length equal to or greater than twenty-four carbons and three to nine double bonds. However, due to their low levels in mammalian tissue samples, analytical methods with high sensitivity and specificity are needed1 .
We have investigated three analytical methods, GC-FID and GC-EI/MS based on the fatty acid methylesters of the VLC-PUFA and GC-NCI/MS based on the pentafluorobenzyl esters of the VLC-PUFA respectively.
The results of the method performance will be presented.