An increased public knowledge of the health benefits of unsaturated fats has resulted in a surge of different cooking oils. Intense advertising of various oil brands claiming to provide the best dietary recommendations often leaves buyers unclear of what their best choices are. Herein, we describe a research-based project for upper-level undergraduate students, where they can use interdisciplinary concepts in organic chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and instrumental analysis to integrate them in a nutrition lab. The experiment was tested over two years in the Instrumental Analysis class, where each student analyzed a liquid oil used for cooking or salad dressings. Ten cooking oils were selected: sunflower, safflower, avocado, sesame, peanut, corn, canola, grapeseed, soybean, and a mixture of sunflower and coconut oils. Six different olive oil products were also compared according to their country of origin, fertilizer used (organic or regular), and type of oil (extra virgin, extra light, 100% pure). The fatty acids (FAs) were first derivatized to their volatile methyl esters (FAMEs) using a microwave-assisted, base-mediated transesterification reaction and then quantified by GC–MS. After pooling the class data, students were exposed to the practical aspects of food analysis while gaining more understanding of their dietary choices.

中文翻译：

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食用油的微波辅助酯交换和其脂肪酸成分的GC-MS测定：基于研究的综合实验室实验

公众对不饱和脂肪的健康益处的了解增加，导致各种食用油激增。声称提供最佳饮食建议的各种石油品牌的激烈广告经常使买家不清楚他们的最佳选择。在这里，我们为高年级本科生描述了一个基于研究的项目，他们可以使用有机化学，生物化学，分析化学和仪器分析中的跨学科概念将它们整合到营养实验室中。实验在仪器分析课上进行了两年的测试，每个学生分析了用于烹饪或色拉调味料的液体油。选择了十种食用油：向日葵油，红花油，鳄梨油，芝麻油，花生油，玉米油，低芥酸菜籽油，葡萄籽油，大豆油以及向日葵油和椰子油的混合物。还根据其原产国，使用的肥料（有机或常规）和油的类型（特级初榨，特级轻度，100％纯）对六种不同的橄榄油产品进行了比较。首先使用微波辅助的碱介导的酯交换反应将脂肪酸（FAs）衍生为挥发性甲酯（FAME），然后通过GC-MS进行定量。在收集了班级数据之后，学生们将接触到食品分析的实际情况，同时进一步了解自己的饮食选择。碱介导的酯交换反应，然后通过GC-MS进行定量。在收集了班级数据之后，学生们将接触到食品分析的实际情况，同时进一步了解自己的饮食选择。碱介导的酯交换反应，然后通过GC-MS进行定量。在收集了班级数据之后，学生们将接触到食品分析的实际情况，同时进一步了解自己的饮食选择。