Comprehensive chromatographic methods for the analysis of lipids

The analytical benefits of automated comprehensive two-dimensional chromatographic methods have been exploited and emphasized by part of the chromatographic community, particularly in the past decade. The most important novelty of comprehensive multidimensional (MD) techniques, with respect to classical MD chromatography, is that the entire injected sample is subjected to two independent separation processes, thus greatly enhancing peak capacity. The unsuspectedly complex nature of many real-world samples has been elucidated through the enhanced resolving power of these techniques. The present review reports on the employment of comprehensive chromatographic methods [based on gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), LC-GC and packed supercritical fluid chromatography (pSFC)] in the field of lipid analysis. We also give brief information on the history and the state-of-the-art of the most widely-used techniques.