Occurrence of ethanolamine‐ and choline‐containing plasmalogens in adipose tissue

Abstract

Abstract Analysis of phospholipids in porcine, bovine and rat adipose tissue revealed a relatively high level of plasmalogens ( O ‐alk‐1‐enyl lipids). About 50% of the ethanolamine phospholipids in the pig and beef samples consisted of alk‐1‐enylacylglycerophosphorylethanolamine, and the corresponding value for the rat sample was near 35%. In the ethanolamine and choline phospholipid fractions, the O ‐alk‐1‐enyl moieties were almost exclusively 16∶0, 18∶0 and 18∶1, whereas the acyl moieties had chain lengths ranging from 16 to 22 carbon atoms with a high degree of unsaturation.