EN
High performance liquid chromatography was applied for identification and quantitative determination of fatty acids in marine environment, after theirtransformation into UV absorbing or emmiting derivatives.The following esters have been prepared and their chromatographic properties examined: p-nitrobenzyl, 4-methyl-7-metaxocoumaryl and 9-methyl-antranyl.Very low detection limit and efficient separation have been revealed.Reversal phase HPLC has been used for separation and identification of individual fatty acids in marine organisms and selected components of the marine environment, whereas their total concentration has been determined using normal phase chromatography.