THE LIPIDS IN NORMAL CHICKEN LIVER

Abstract

The livers of male chicks which had been fed a soybean and corn type ration for 8 weeks were exhaustively extracted with chloroform–methanol. The total (4.47%) lipid extract was separated into neutral and phospholipid fractions on a Unisil column and the mixed fatty acids in each fraction determined with the aid of gas chromatography. The neutral lipid fraction contained 3.16% hydrocarbons, 4.73% cholesterol esters, 74.99% triglycerides, 0.28% free fatty acids, 11.57% cholesterol, 3.37% diglycerides, and 1.54% monoglycerides. The phospholipid fraction contained 5.7% cardiolipin, 32.3% phosphatidyl ethanolamine, 7.3% phosphatidyl inositol, 3.0% phosphatidyl serine, 47.9% phosphatidyl choline, and 3.8% sphingomyelin and lysophosphatidyl choline. The cholesterol ester and diglyceride fractions contained twice as much linoleic acid as the other neutral lipid fractions. Phospholipids were characterized by a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids.