IP 578: Petroleum products and fat and oil derivates - Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for diesel engines - Determination of polyunsaturated (≥4 double bonds) fatty acid methyl esters (PUFA) by gas chromatography

Scope

This European Standard specifies a method for the determination of the polyunsaturated (≥ 4 double bonds) fatty acid (PUFA) methyl esters content of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) as a whole between 0,6 % (m/m) and 1,5 % (m/m).

The method covers the predominant four polyunsaturated fatty acid methyl esters of eicosatetraenoic acid (C 20:4 (n-6)), eicosapentaenoic acid (C 20:5 (n-3)), docosapentaenoic acid (C 22:5 (n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (C 22:6 (n-3)).

Studies have indicated that based on the linearity of results from this European Standard, PUFA methyl esters can be determined in FAME in the range between 0,3 % (m/m) to 3,0 % (m/m). However, the precision was not established in that range, as no samples within the upper ranges where included in the final interlaboratory test (see 10.1).

NOTE 1 For the purposes of this document, the term '% (m/m)' is used to represent the mass fraction of a material.