Development and application of a pseudotargeted lipidomics method for alkylglycerol analysis.

• A pseudotargeted lipidomics method was used for identifying alkylglycerols in foods. • A new Dart package termed FFIMA was developed to facilitate data processing. • Mild acid hydrolysis was employed to assist in analyzing ether phospholipid species. • A total of 156 alkylglycerol-type ether lipids and 35 plasmalogens were identified. Alkylglycerols (1-O-alkyl- sn -glycerols) are microscale but critical lipids in foods. Conventional lipidomics analysis often loses sight of alkylglycerol analysis. In this study, we developed a high coverage pseudotargeted lipidomics method for analyzing alkylglycerols. The developed method integrated the advantages of GC–MS and LC–MS to profile alkylglycerol-type ether lipids comprehensively, with the help of a data processing Dart package termed FFIMA (Feature Fragments Information Matching Algorithm). The developed method exhibited competitive superiority to conventional lipidomics, such as wider coverage and higher accuracy. The validated method was assessed by three aquatic products and three milks. A total of 25 alkylglycerols, 107 diacylglycerol ethers, 21 monoacylglycerol ethers, 28 alkylglycerol-type ether phospholipids, and 35 plasmalogens were identified in the six foods. The results demonstrated that this method offers a comprehensive analysis of a wide spectrum of alkylglycerols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]