Estimating total lipid content of Camelina sativa via pyrolysis assisted in-situ transesterification with dimethyl carbonate

Abstract

Direct derivatization of C. sativa seed into FAMEs without lipid extraction was conducted for the quantification of lipid analysis via in-situ thermal methylation with dimethyl carbonate as an acyl acceptor on silica (SiO2). The introduced method had an extraordinarily high tolerance against impurities such as pyrolytic products and moisture. To ensure the technical completeness of in-situ methylation, thermal cracking of FAMEs transformed from C. sativa seed was also explored. Thermal cracking of unsaturated FAMEs such as C-18:1, C-18:2, C-18:3 and C-20:1 occurred at temperatures higher than 365 degrees C due to their thermal instability. Thus, experimental findings in this study suggests not only that qualitative analysis of fatty acid profile in C. sativa seed via in-situ methylation using SiO2 could be achieve, but also that the total lipid content (42.65 wt.%) in C. sativa seed could be accurately estimated.