Any suggestions, any comments highly appreciated! We mostly use speedvac/lyophilizer system for our metabolomics samples however its not compatible with the organic solvents.
In our experience, the less one alters the sample the best. We typically work very quickly using monophasic MeOH:MTBE 1:1 under RT (no ice bath) to avoid lipid precipitation and set the sampler to +18 ºC. Higher temperatures can cause lipid degradation and oxidized products (they can appear also at RT), therefore I'd be wary of using a pre-heated SpeedVac, unless vacuum can be fastly achieved to avoid heat transmission (heat is used to evaporate the sample and not to increase the temp until the solvent is evaporated, and then it can also be a problem to re-dissolve the lipids). Lyophilization may seem interesting but needs sample freezing and, lower temperatures may obstacle lipid recovery when precipitation occurs. I'd definitely avoid rotary evaporators. As a conclusion, it'd be better if good recoveries can be achieved with little extractant, without compromising too much natural evaporation....
vacuum concentrators are compatible with organic solvent evaporation in non-oxidative conditions and can be operated at higher temperatures which is beneficial for lipids. nitrogen positive pressure evap. would also be ok as a second approach in case of the absence of vac. concentrators.
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