Development and Validation of a Bioanalytical Method for Measuring Free Fatty Acids in Plasma

Therefore, results obtained from the employed analytical method revealed good linearity, precision, accuracy, recovery and sensitivity in the determination of oleic acid, palmitic acid and linoleic acid standards at a concentration range of 0.1-50 μg/mL. As shown in the figures, the
calibration curves were highly linear with a coefficient of determination (R2) ranging between 0.997 to 0.999 for the three fatty acids studied. The method also showed acceptable run-to-run and batch-to-batch precision, which were in terms of relative standard deviation varying between 2.5- 5.6%. The accuracy was also 95.2 to 104.8% with the percentage recovery for the concentration range that was tested. Recoveries of the fatty acids from spiked samples did not differ significantly at low and high, spike concentrations and were at 96.8-98.4%. Furthermore, the method was
found to have low limits of detection of 0.03-0.05μg/mL and a range of lower limits of quantification of 0.10-0.15μg/mL which shows that the method was sensitive. All in all, it was established that the analytical method used was highly reliable and precise in the determination of these fatty acids. It can potentially be used for regular quality control checks of the concentration of these fatty acids in infant formula, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or other
related products within the validated concentration range.