Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 28, 596-598, Copyright © 1987 by Lipid Research, Inc.
A preparative high performance liquid chromatography method for separation of lecithin: comparison to thin-layer chromatography
S Bahrami, H Gasser and H Redl
We have developed a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to
separate lecithin from other phospholipid classes and to obtain lecithin
from biologic materials. The separation was performed on a preparative
10-micron Spherisorb column with an optimized solvent system consisting of
the following components: acetonitrile, isopropanol, methanol, water, and
trifluoroacetic acid. The advantages of this method are the use of an
isocratic solvent system limited to about 30 min and the very good
separation of the phosphatidyl-choline fraction from the sphingomyelin
fraction. Furthermore, the HPLC method has a better recovery rate than the
thin-layer chromatography method, and it can be run under automatic
control.