Quantitative analysis of lipids by thin‐layer chromatography

Abstract

Abstract A procedure is described for the quantitative analysis of neutral and phospholipids by thinlayer chromatography (TLC) employing densitometry. The chromatophates are prepared with the usual solvent systems. The spots are charred under standard conditions and analyzed with a Photovolt Corp. densitometer equipped with a special stage designed for holding 20ȕ20 cm chromatoplates. Each spot on the chromatoplate gives a peak of density values which is used for quantitative analysis. Radioactive lipids are analyzed by autoradiography by the densitometry of radiograms of chromatoplates developed from X‐ray films. The precision of the method is demonstrated on model mixtures of mono, di‐and triglycerides, neural and phospholipids and C 14 labeled lipids. Results of the analysis of several samples of rat liver lipids compared closely to those obtained by silicic acid column chromatography.