Untargeted lipidomics approach using LC-Orbitrap HRMS to discriminate lard from beef tallow and chicken fat for the authentification of halal

This research aimed to perform a lipidomics study using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to identify lard, beef tallow and chicken fat. A total of 292, 345, and 403 lipid compounds were observed in lard, beef tallow, and chicken fat, respectively. The lipid groups of AcHexStE (acyl hexosyl stigmasterol ester), biotinylPE (biotinylphosphoetanolamine), LPC (lysophosphatidylcholine), MePC (monoetherphosphatidylcholine), PC (phosphatidylcholine) and PI (phosphoinocitol) were found to be specific for lard. The principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) successfully differentiated lard from beef tallow and chicken fat. This research suggested that the untargeted lipidomics technique using LC-HRMS combined with chemometrics could be used to discriminate lard from beef tallow and chicken fat. This method is a promising technique for the detection of lard adulteration in beef tallow and chicken fat for halal authentication purposes.