Three-dimensional liquid chromatography with triple parallel mass spectrometry, LC3MS3, for pulse lipid analysis

Abstract: Pulses are the dried seeds of legumes, plants that bear fruit in pods. They are widely studied and consumed for their high fiber and high protein contents. But since they contain relatively less fat (~2-3% by wt.), the fat content has been less studied. The fat composition is a beneficial composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), with not too much saturated fat. Since fats are digested by removing the outer fatty acids (FAs) first, it is important to determine the arrangement of the FAs on the triacylglycerol (TAG). To get to the more detailed structural information, more complex methods of analysis are required. We use one separation to initially separate fats by carbon chain length and degree of unsaturation. Then a second separation is applied for a better separation by chain length, and a third separation gives a better separation by degree of unsaturation, and the location of the unsaturation. Overall we are able to provide a detailed composition of the identities of a large number of TAGs and the arrangements of a subset of them.