Determinación de alcoholes grasos en el ingrediente activo D004 por cromatografía de gases-espectrometría de masas

introduction: d004, a new lipid extract purified from the cuban royal palm (roystonea regia [kunth] f. cook) fruits, has been shown to be effective in experimental models of prostate hyperplasia, and to exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. objectives: to identify the fatty alcohols that could be present in d004 active ingredient using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. methods: samples of nine batches of d004 were submitted to saponification with koh/etoh solution and the unsaponifiable fractions were extracted with n-hexane. the alcohols were analyzed as trimetilsilil derivatives, which were obtained by reaction with mstfa. the quantification was carried out by the internal standard method using 1-eicosanol. results: the total content of alcohols in d004 ranged from 0.18 to 5.10 %. this fraction was mainly composed of 1-octacosanol (52.94 %), 1-triacontanol (25.91 %), and 1-hexacosanol (14.40 %); whereas the minority components were 1-docosanol, 1-tricosanol, 1-tetracosanol, 1-pentacosanol, 1-heptacosanol, 1-nonacosanol, 1-dotriacontanol 1-tetratriacontanol, 1-tetradecanol, 1-pentadecanol, 1-hexadecanol, 1-octadecanol and 1-eicosanol were minor components, being the last six alcohols present in trace levels. conclusions: fatty alcohols were identified and quantified in d004 active ingredient by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. the major components were 1-octacosanol, 1-triacontanol and 1-hexacosanol.