Fatty acids of cows' milk. B. Composition by gas-liquid chromatography aided by other methods of fractionation

A fresh sample of cows' milk was converted directly to the methyl esters by methanolysis and the esters were fractionated into eleven distilled fractions and an undistilled portion. The latter, which contained the bulk of the polyunsaturated and long chain esters, was further fractionated by adsorption chromatography on a silicic acid column. Each fraction from the distillation and adsorption chromatography was analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography on columns containing polyester stationary phases of different polarity. Twenty-seven minor components, including some not previously reported, were present each in less than 0.1%. The fatty acid distribution of the major components fell within the range generally reported.