A simple methodology for the determination of the fatty acid composition of edible oils through (1)H NMR is proposed. The method is based on the fact that all fatty acid chains are esterified to a common moiety, glycerol, and the quantification is done directly in the (1)H NMR spectra through the relationship between the areas of a characteristic signal of each fatty acid and a signal of the glycerol moiety, without the use of mathematical equations. The methodology was successfully applied to determine the fatty acid composition of several edible oils, with equivalent results to those given by the AOAC Official method by gas chromatography. Its main advantages are simplicity and the lack of need for sample pre-treatment such as derivatization or extraction.
2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.