Determination and structural elucidation of triacylglycerols in krill oil by chromatographic techniques.

The content of triacylglycerols (TAG) in krill oil is generally omitted from the labels of commercial supplements and unacknowledged in studies aimed at proving its health benefits. The present study demonstrates that TAG compounds, in addition to phospholipids and lysophospholipids, are an important lipid class in pure krill oil. The fatty acid composition of TAG molecules from krill oil and their distribution on the backbone of TAG structures were determined by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric, respectively.