Phospholipids determination in vegetable oil by thin-layer chromatography and imaging densitometry

A rapid reliable method was developed to measure vegetable oil phospholipid content by thin-layer chromatography–imaging densitometry. Phospholipid samples were obtained from crude soybean oil by water degumming and then analyzed and quantified by thin-layer chromatography and imaging densitometry. Phosphatidyl choline (PC), phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidyl inositol (PI) standard curves were generated. The total phospholipid content of the oil was 1.12–1.26%, of which 27.1 ± 1.86% was PC, 22.7 ± 0.45% was PE, while PI accounted for 17.2 ± 0.85% of the total. A high correlation coefficient of 0.985 was found for reproducibility of pixel area (OD*mm) at a constant concentration of standard phospholipid. Regression analysis of the pixel area vs the phospholipid (PC, PE, and PI) weights (μg) generated R2 greater than 0.983. Thin-layer chromatography–imaging densitometry proved a useful tool for rapid determination and quantification of the major phospholipids in soybean oil.