Principal component analysis in fast atom bombardment‐mass spectrometry of triacylglycerols in edible oils

Positive‐ion fast atom bombardment‐mass spectrometry, withm‐nitrobenzyl alcohol as matrix and a methanolic sodium iodide (Nal) solution, was used to characterize edible oils by their triacylglycerol composition. Cationized triacylglycerols gave characteristic spectra for olive (57 samples), sunflower (9 samples), soybean (9 samples), corn (12 samples), and peanut (10 samples) oils. Relative abundance of [M + Na]+ ions showed relevant differences among the oils. The obtained data were analyzed with the aid of chemometrics by using principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the differentiation. Twelve variables were reduced to two principal components, accounting for 82% of the total variance. A two‐dimensional plot of 97 PCA scores allowed the separation of the edible oils. The analysis is both fast and reproducible.