Improvements in the methodology for fatty acids analysis in meat products: One-stage transmethylation and fast-GC method.

• A one-stage fatty acid transmethylation method has been optimized for meat products. • A fast GC run for fatty acid analysis has been established. • Quality control parameters have shown an accurate performance of this methodology. • High recovery percentages of fatty acids have been found with the improved method. • A straightforwardly and quickly fatty acid analysis for meat products has been proven. The quantification of fatty acids (FA) in meat products is frequently carried out by two-stage methylation procedures followed by long gas chromatography (GC) runs. This work aimed to simplify this methodology by means of a one-stage transmethylation method and a fast GC run, evaluating the influence of sample preparation, reagents and type of heating on the amount of FA in different meat products and optimizing a fast GC-FID (flame ionization detector) run. This allowed to establish the optimum combination of parameters (methanol + chlorotrimethylsilane, lyophilized samples and oven heating) to achieve the quantification of the highest possible amount of FA and to reduce the time of GC run from 60 to 10 min. The quality evaluation of this method obtained satisfactory results. Thus, the quantification of FA in meat products was achieved in a straightforwardly and quickly way by using a one-stage transmethylation procedure followed by a fast GC-FID run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]