Rapid Detection of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Biological Samples

Abstract An increasing number of researchers are focusing on short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are closely related to various aspects of the human body. This study presented a pretreatment method for mouse feces that combined acidification and extraction. Then, a direct injection process into gas chromatography was developed. The limits of detection using this method are 0.5–0.8 mg L −1 , and the corresponding sample contents are 0.015–0.024 mg g −1 . The limits of quantification are 0.8–1.0 mg L −1 , and the corresponding sample contents are 0.024–0.030 mg g −1 . The linear relationship of the calibration curve is good and has a correlation coefficient of > 0.999. The recovery rate of the spiked standard is 80–102%. This method had been successfully applied to analysing and determining SCFAs in biological samples. Graphic Abstract