Analysis of soybean lecithins and beef phospholipids by HPLC with an evaporative light scattering detector

Linear (r > 0.99) calibration curves were obtained for 10–150 µg of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), 10–75 µg of phosphaditylinositol (PI), phosphaditylserine (PS) and lysophosphatidylethanolamine, 10–100 µg of phosphatidic acid (PA) and 10–250 µg of phosphatidylcholine (PC) by high‐performance liquid chromatography analyses with an evaporative light scattering detector, a Zorbax 7‐µm silica column and gradient elution with two solvents. One solvent (A) contained 415 mL isooctane (IOCT), 5 mL tetrahydrofuran (THF), 446 mL isopropanol (IPA), 104 mL CHCl3 and 30 mL H2O; and the other solvent (B) contained 216 mL IOCT, 4 mL THF, 546 mL IPA, 154 mL CHCl3 and 80 mL H2O. The gradient in which 100% A linearly changed to 100% B in 20 min followed by 12 min of 100% B and then a linear change to 100% A during 5 min separated PE, PS and PC in soybean lecithins and beef lipids, but failed to resolve PI and PA. In these same samples, less polar lipids were separated from phospholipids (PL) by elution from Bond‐Elut silica columns with diethyl ether/hexane (20:80, vol/vol), and PL were recovered by elution with methanol. This procedure is useful for concentration of minor lipid components. Levels of PE, PI‐PA, PS and PC were higher in granular than in liquid lecithin, and PC was the most abundant PL in soybean lecithins and beef lipids.