Simplification of analyses of fatty acids in fish lipids and related lipid samples.

The longer chain, highly unsaturated fatty acids up to 22:6 and typical of fish lipids must be included in many current analyses of fatty acids of diets, blood, and eventually of organ lipids. The use of the GLC liquid phase Carbowax-20M in a bonded, or cross-linked form, wall-coated in glass or flexible fused silica capillary columns, eliminates the confusing overlap of component fatty acids of different chain lengths found with polar packed GLC columns. Either isothermal or programmed conditions yield comparable results illustrated with a fish oil analysis.