A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method with thermal separation injection was developed for the rapid detection of 4 fatty acid ethyl esters

i.e.palmitic acid ethyl ester

linoleic acid ethyl ester

oleic acid ethyl ester and stearic acid ethyl ester in olive oil.The target compounds were volatilized at appropriate inlet temperature

separated on a DB-5MS column

and detected in selected-ion monitoring mode.Results showed that the standard curves for 4 analytes were linear over the concentration range of 0.01-0.20 mg/L

with correlation coefficients(r2) greater than 0.999.The limits of detection(LODs) and limits of quantitation(LOQs) of the method were 0.3 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg

respectively.Recoveries at three levels of 1.0

2.0 and 10 mg/kg ranged from 82.4% to 109%

with relative standard deviations of 0.68%-6.8%.The method is sensitive

accurate and stable

and is suitable for the rapid detection of 4 fatty acid ethyl esters in olive oil.