Extraction of Phospholipids from Egg Yolk Flakes Using Aqueous Alcohols

Two alcohols, ethanol and butanol, with different water contents were evaluated for phospholipids (PL) sequential extraction from drum dried egg yolk flakes. It showed that butanol was more effective in extracting total yolk lipids compared to ethanol, but the PL in the extract had the same concentration as in the original yolk total lipid. The use of aqueous ethanol of 95 and 75% resulted in lipid extracts with higher PL concentration during the initial stages of the sequential extraction. When ethanol was further diluted to a concentration of 55%, the solvent lost its PL extraction ability, and the total lipid recovery also decreased dramatically. When both the PL purity and recovery were considered, 75% ethanol was the most effective aqueous alcohol for PL extraction and enrichment from the yolk flakes. In the first stage of extraction using such a solvent, 67% of the total PL in the original yolk was recovered in a lipid fraction with a PL purity of 75%. This study identified the optimal ethanol concentration for PL extraction from dried egg yolk. With this information, the best solid:solvent ratio can be designed to extract and enrich the polar lipids from lipid-bearing materials with known moisture content using a renewable or “green” solvent, ethanol.