Simultaneous determination of 19 fatty acids in Antrodia camphorata by derivatized GC–MS and evaluation of antioxidant activity of Antrodia camphorata crude oil

To analyze the components of the fatty oil extracted from Antrodia camphorata fungus powder and to evaluate the antioxidant activity of A. camphorata crude oil. A derivatized gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was developed for the quantification of 19 fatty acids in extracts of A. camphorata obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2). Good separation was obtained under the optimized chromatographic conditions and 19 target compounds after methyl-esterification were identified by GC–MS on a HP-VOC capillary column (60 m × 320 μm × 1.8 μm) with an initial temperature set at 80 °C. The validity of the established method was examined experimentally with good linearity, intra-assay precisions, repeatability, stability and recovery. The antioxidant activity of A. camphorata crude oil was evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assay. Nineteen fatty acids showed good linearity over the tested ranges (r > 0.9956) and the recovery ranged from 93.47 to 104.89 %. The crude oil extracted from A. camphorata fungus powder also revealed its antioxidant activity. It was the report about simultaneous determination of 19 fatty acids in A. camphorata and antioxidant activity of its crude oil for the first time. The established method might also be utilized for the investigation of edible plant materials and agricultural products containing fatty acids.