There are six tocol analogs present in palm oil, namely α-tocopherol (α-T), α-tocomonoenol (α-T₁), α-tocotrienol (α-T₃), γ-tocotrienol (γ-T₃), β-tocotrioenol (β-T₃) and δ-tocotrienol (δ-T₃). These analogs were difficult to separate chromatographically due to their similar structures, physical and chemical properties. This paper reports on the effect of pressure and injection solvent on the separation of the tocol analogs in palm oil. Supercritical CO₂ modified with ethanol was used as the mobile phase. Both total elution time and resolution of the tocol analogs decreased with increased pressure. Ethanol as an injection solvent resulted in peak broadening of the analogs within the entire pressure range studied. Solvents with an eluent strength of 3.4 or less were more suitable for use as injecting solvents.
Keywords: palm; supercritical fluid chromatography; tocol analogs; tocotrienol.