The phosphatides of safflower seeds involved in color formation occurring in extracted and heated crude oils

Studies on crude safflower oils have established that three phosphatides extracted with the oil from the kernel of the seed are responsible for color formation. The phosphatides have been isolated and identified as phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylmyoinositol (PI) and phosphatidylcholine (PC). Phosphatidylethanolamine was the most potent contributor to color formation, followed by phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. The color‐forming compounds were separated from the crude oil by precipitation with water and obtained in pure form by column chromatography on DEAE cellulose. The components were identified by comparison of Rf values of intact and deacylated phosphatides with those of known reference compounds, by determination of molar ratios of ester, glycerol, choline, inositol, nitrogen and phosphorus, and by qualitative and quantitative gas chromatographic analysis of the fatty acid residues.