OPTIMIZATION OF A CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD FOR THE GRAM-SCALE PREPARATIVE FRACTIONATION OF SOYBEAN PHOSPHOLIPIDS

To enable the study of the functional properties of pure soybean phosp holipids, a chromatographic method was developed for the preparative f ractionation of soybean lecithin. A coarse and irregularly shaped sili ca gel was used as the stationary phase, whereas the mobile phase cons isted of three mixtures of hexane, 2-propanol and water of increasing polarity. These solvents were included in a step gradient, formed by a n isocratic pump connected to a solvent changer.To reduce solvent cons umption, the procedure was optimised using a method development column . The solvent program and the sample load were shown to affect mainly the purity and recovery of phosphatidylinositol.