Development and Validation of GC-FID Method for Routine Analysis of the Fatty Acid Profiling in Vegetable Oils

The variety of available techniques and analytical methods applied in laboratories calls for the need of defining the scope, range of application and quality of information obtained using each of them with reference to internationally agreed standards. Of these techniques, Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) is most used in fatty acids analysis. Method development and validation is useful for GC and other analytical procedures. This paper outlines the importance of method validation and elaborates on typical validation parameters with special reference to their application in the analysis of fatty acids of different oils. Critical components for a method are highlighted such as sample preparation (FAME Derivatization), instrument analysis conditions and method standardization. Validation characteristics like Specificity, Linearity and range, Precision, LOD, LOQ, Robustness and recovery are presented.