Main constituents of rapeseed lecithin

Commercial rapeseed lecithin has been analyzed after separation by silicic acid column chromatography. Besides neutral oil (40%), four major constituents have been found, viz., phosphatidyl ethanolamine (18%), phosphatidyl inositol (8%), phosphatidyl choline (16%) and sterol glycosides (8%). Among the minor fractions lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine accounts for about 2%. The phosphatides are characterized by low erucic acid content and the major fatty acids are palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids.