This book has been written to ensure that it will be of benefit to industrial analysts. Most chapters explain some of the relevant theory as well as give some historical references to place the technique in its proper context. In addition the book should appeal to academic scientists who require a good source of applications and a good set of references. Since lipids have many uses the appeal of the book will extend from the food industry to the pharmaceutical industry. R. Hamilton Formby June 1997 Acknowledgement I would wish to acknowledge the considerable help and encouragement from my wife Shiela. Abbreviations The following are the abbreviations used within this book and do not necessarily represent convention or internationally accepted abbreviations. AAPH 2, 2'-azobis (2-aminopropane )dihydrochloride Ac acetyl AchE acetylcholinesterase analog digital converter ADC AI artificial intelligence ALD aldehyde AMPL acetone mobile polar lipids atomic mass unit amu 2, 2' -azo bis-2, 4-dimethy lvaleronitrile AMVN ANN artificial neural network AOCS American Oil Chemists' Society APCI atmospheric pressure chemical ionization APE N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine API atmospheric pressure ionization ARA arachidonic acid ASG acyl-sitosterylglyceride ASMS American Society for Mass Spectrometry ATP adenosine triphosphate BE backward elimination CAD collisionally activated dissociation 3 CBC cerebroside 1 sulphate CBO Certified Brands of Origin (applied to Italian virgin olive oils) CCD charge-coupled device CE capillary electrophoresis CFAM cyclic fatty acid monomer CI chemical ionization CID collision-induced dissociation CL cardiolipin Cn:m Hydrocarbon with n carbon atoms and m double bonds CR continuum regression d. c.