Analysis of soybean lecithin by thin layer and analytical liquid chromatography

The application of thin layer and analytical liquid chromatography to the analysis of two samples of commercial soybean lecithins is described. A combination of column chromatography and quantitative thin layer chromatography showed that these products consisted of ca. 82% mixture of the major phospholipids of soybeans, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, and phosphatidyl inositol. The remainder of these products contained essentially the entire spectrum of lipid classes found in soybean oil-some 24 known and unknown glycolipids and phospholipids, in addition to the neutral lipids. Applications of analytical liquid chromatography to these lecithins gave a composition profile of the lipid classes comparable to two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. The potential of this method for the complete analysis of complex lipids, such as soybean lecithins, is indicated.