A mixture of methyl ester derivatives of fatty acids from the oils of pine nuts was well resolved to five fractions differing by degree of unsaturation by silver ion solid-phase extraction column chromatography (Ag+-SEC). Polyunsaturated fatty acid with non-methylene interrupted conjugated double bond (NMiDB) radical held more strongly to silver ions in the column than methylene interrupted conjugated double bond (MiDB) one when they had the same number of double bonds. Although both the picolinyl ester and DMOX derivative provided clear mass ion species powerful enough to elucidate the structure of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with NMiDB and/or methylene interrupted conjugated double bond (MiDB) radical in the oils, the picolinyl ester of PUFA with NMiDB radical did not provide a cluster of mass ions neighboring diagnostic mass ions induced by the double bond in the proximal to the carboxyl group. However, the DMOX derivative of PUFA with NMiDB group as well as MiDB showed abundant mass ion species differing by gaps of 12 amu, which made it possible with greater ease to locate the double bonds in the molecule. The oil contained C18:2Ω6 (46.2 %) and C18:1Ω9 (25.4 %) as main components, and considerable amounts of PUFAs with NMiDB radical such as δ5. 9. 12-C18:3 (16.0 %), δ5. 9-C18:2 (2.3 %) and δ5. 11. 14-C20:3 (0.8 %).

Triacylglycerols of the seeds of Ginkgo biloba have been resolved by high-performace liquid chromatography(HPLC in the silver-ion and reverse-phase modes. The fatty acids were identified by a combination of capillary gas chromatography and gas-chromatography /mass spectrometry as the methyl and /or picolinyl ester. The main components are C18:2Ω6(39.0mol%), C18:1Ω7(asclepic acid 21.5mol%), and C18:1Ω9(oleic acid, 13.8mol%). Considerable amounts of unusual acid such as C20:3δ5,11,14 (5.7mol%), C18:2δ5,9(2.8mol%), and C18:3δ5,9,12(1.6mol%), were checked. In addition, an anteiso-branched fatty acid, 14-methylhexadecanoic acid, was also present as a minor component(0.9 mol%). The triacylglycerols were separated into 17 fractions by reverse-phase HPLC, and the fractionation was achieved according to the partition numnber(PN) in which a δ5-non methylene interrupted double bond(5-NMDB) showed different behaviour from a methylene interrupted double bond in a molecule with a given cahinlength. Silver-ion HPLC exhibited excellent resolution in which fractions(23 fractions) were resolved on the basis of the number and configuration of double bonds. In this instance, the strength of interaction of a δ5-NMDB system with silver ions seemed to be weaker than a methylene interrupted double bond system. The principal triacylglycerol species are as follows ; (C18:2Ω6)2/C18:1Ω7, C18:1Ω9/C18:1Ω7/C18:2Ω6, (C18:1Ω7)2/C18:2Ω6, C16:1Ω7/C18:1Ω9/C20:3δ5,11,14, C16:1Ω7/C18:1Ω7/C20:3δ5,11,14, C18:1Ω9/C18:1Ω7/C18:2Ω6, C18:1Ω9/C18:2δ5,5/C20:3δ5,11,14, (C18:1Ω7)2/C18:2Ω6 and (C18:1Ω9)2/C18:2Ω6, while simple triacylglycerols without C18:2Ω6)3 were not present. Stereospecific analysis showed that fatty acids with δ5-NMDB system and saturated chains were predominantly located at the site of sn-3 carbon of glycerol backbones. It is evident that there is asymmetry in the distribution of fatty acids in the TG molecules of Ginkgo nut oils.