Abstract
In the previous part 1 of this series, the author reported that the antarctic sei whale blubber oil comprizes more than 45 fatty acids including minor constituents such as polyunsaturated odd-numbered and branched-chain fatty acids.
The present paper describes detailed examination of component fatty acids obtained from the antarctic fin whale blubber oil by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) using a hydrogen flame ionization detector.
The refined sample oil was converted directly into methyl esters by alkali-catalyzed methanolysis, and the resulting crude methyl esters were separated by silicic acid column chromatography, urea-complex fractionation and preparative silica gel thin-layer chromatography. Each fraction was then analyzed by GLC before and after hydrogenation.
As a result, qualitative or semi-quantitative evidence was corroborated for the presence of numerous fatty acids ranging from 12 to 24 carbon atoms in chain length in the sample oil as well as sei whale oil. Special interests were polyunsaturated odd-numbered fatty acids (19 : 5, 21 : 5), and particularly the existence of mufti-branched-chain and presumable existence of unsaturated branched-chain fatty acids as a minor constituent.
In addition, the values of equivalent chain length (ECL) were determined on unknown ingredients by GLC.
