Determination of the trans fatty acid content of Serbian shortenings by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The fatty acid composition and trans fatty acid (TFA) content of Serbian shortenings were determined by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The saturated, cis-monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents were within the ranges of 16.0–89.0, 4.9–41.9 and 0.0–23.2% of total fatty acids, respectively. Among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid (4.8–48.7%) was dominant and its higher amount indicates that palm oil was the major contributor in the shortening manufacturing. The content of total trans fatty acids ranged from 0.0% to 48.7% of total fatty acids and the mean was 27.4%. Trans 18:1 isomers were the major group of TFA present in analysed samples, representing 94.2% of total trans isomers. The content of all 18:2 trans isomers ranged from 0.0% to 3.6% of total fatty acids. Among thirty-four analysed samples only six contained low level of TFA (0.0–3.1%) while the rest contained very high amounts of TFA (10.2–48.7%) which clearly indicate that partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are still the major raw materials used in the production of shortenings in Serbia