Fatty Acid Analysis

As part of a collaboration with Dr. Lauren Ruane in the Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, we are involved in the analysis of the fatty acid content of flax seeds grown in varying environments. We are looking to determine what effect, if any, growth of flax plants in the presence of altered conditions has on the lipid content in the seeds produced. The techniques and equipment we use to analyze the flax seeds are liquid-solid extraction, transesterification reactions, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Figure 1. Structures of the essential fatty acids, both of which are common to flax seeds.

ASSOCIATED PRESENTATIONS:

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FATTY ACID CONTENT IN FLAX SEEDS AS INFLUENCED BY SOIL CADMIUM AND MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI. Matthew E. Kaplan, Ellen R. Simmons, Jack C. Hawkins, Lauren G. Ruane & Jeffrey M. Carney, Department of Molecular Biology and Chemistry, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA 23606. 247^th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dallas, TX, March 18, 2014. (Published Abstract) (Poster)

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FATTY ACID CONTENT IN FLAX SEEDS UNDER VARIOUS GROWING CONDITIONS BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY. Ellen R. Simmons, Matthew E. Kaplan, Jack C. Hawkins, Lauren Ruane & Jeffrey M. Carney, Department of Molecular Biology and Chemistry, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA 23606. Paideia Research Conference, 12th Annual Meeting, Christopher Newport University, April 13, 2013. (Poster)