Optimization, validation and application of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of grape lipids

Lipids are a very important class of plant metabolites, nevertheless the knowledge about grape lipids is to date still very poor, with the exception of those located in the seeds. We describe a method for the quantification of different classes of grape lipids: fatty acids, sterols, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids by LC/ESI-MS/MS. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of 18 grape varieties: 35 lipids were identified and 29 were quantified. This method, can be easily expanded to include further compounds for a better understanding of the role of lipids in grape physiology