Analysis of Fatty Acyl Groups of Diacyl Galactolipid Molecular Species by HPLC/ESI-MS with In-source Fragmentation

The structures of molecular species of galactolipids, such as monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG), isolated from wheat flour have been investigated using negative-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry interfaced with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). According to the result of HPLC analysis, MGDG and DGDG were found to consist of mixtures of five and four molecular species, respectively. The galactolipids have been also analyzed to determine their fatty acid compositions, using HPLC/ESI-MS combined with in-source (or cone voltage) fragmentation. HPLC/ ESI-MS is very useful for one-step analysis of mixtures of galactolipids with a small sample quantity. Especially, the carboxylate anions produced in in-source fragmentations of the negative-ion of each component separated by HPLC provide valuable information on the composition of its fatty acyl chains.