707. Phospholipids in New Zealand dairy products: I. The estimation of the total phospholipids and of lecithin, cephalin and sphingomyelin in butter

Abstract

A method has been described for the routine estimation of total phospholipids and of lecithin, cephalin and sphingomyelin in butter. Butter serum was treated with ether and light petroleum in a modified Röse-Gottlieb procedure to extract the phospholipids which then were estimated in the extract.Chloroform-methanol extracted from the butter serum slightly more phosphorus than did the ether-light petroleum mixture. Ethanol-ether, benzene-ethanol and benzene-isopropanol, when used to extract a protein-phospholipid precipitate formed by the addition of trichloroacetic acid to butter serum, also removed slightly more phosphorus than did the ether-light petroleum mixture. The higher phosphorus contents of these extracts was due partly to a slightly more efficient extraction of phospholipids and partly to extraction of non-phospholipid phosphorus compounds.