The lipoxygenase sensor, a new approach in essential fatty acid determination in foods

• Published in: Biosensors & bioelectronics 1997-01, Vol.12 (11), p.1089-1099
• Main Authors: Schoemaker, Michael, Feldbrügge, Rainer, Gründig, Bernd, Friedrich Spener
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: amperometric enzyme sensor; Biological and medical sciences; Biosensing Techniques; Biosensors; Biotechnology; Dialysis; essential fatty acids; Fat industries; Fatty Acids, Essential - analysis; Flow Injection Analysis; flow injection analysis (FIA)-system; Food Analysis - methods; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glycine max - enzymology; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Isoenzymes; lipolysis; Lipoxygenase; margarines; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; oxygen electrode; Sensitivity and Specificity; Various methods and equipments; vegetable oils
• ISSN: 0956-5663; 1873-4235
• DOI: 10.1016/S0956-5663(97)00073-0

Both an enzyme electrode and enzyme column with immobilized lipoxygenase, respectively, were used for the determination of essential fatty acids. The former was applied in a batch system, the latter was part of a fully automated flow-injection-analysis (FIA)-system. The oxygen consumption due to the lipoxygenase catalysed oxygenation of essential fatty acids was monitored amperometrically. Both systems were compared with regard to linear ranges of the calibration plots, sensitivities, detection limits, apparent Michaelis–Menten constants and lifetimes. The enzyme electrode showed different sensitivities for linoleic and α-linolenic acids, the most common essential fatty acids. The reason for this was not a second oxygenation step by lipoxygenase in case of α-linolenic acid, but a different dialytic behaviour of the two substrates. Hence, only the FIA-system was used for the determination of these fatty acids in real matrices such as vegetable oils and margarines. In the presence of detergent the triglycerides of the hydrophobic food samples were converted into water soluble glycerol and free fatty acids by a 15 min incubation with a ready to use lipase/esterase-mix, thus avoiding the use of organic solvents for analysis. Results obtained by the enzymatic FIA-system were in excellent agreement with those obtained by standard gas chromatography.