QUANTITATIVE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY ANALYSIS OF PLANTPHOSPHOLIPIDS AND GLYCOLIPIDS USING LIGHT-SCATTERING DETECTION

Application of the evaporative light-scattering principle to quantitat ive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses of plant me mbrane lipids has received little study. Light-scattering detection re sponse curves were generated for nine classes of plant membrane phosph olipid and glycolipids. Quantitative results obtained by HPLC/light-sc attering detection and conventional lipid analytical methods (thin-lay er chromatography and lipid-P assay) were in close agreement, confirmi ng the reliability of HPLC/evaporative light-scattering detection (ELS D) analyses. Only three of the nine plant lipid classes gave linear de tector response functions above 10 mu g injected lipid mass. This find ing contradicts earlier precepts involving light-scattering detection of lipids. At a given mass, appreciable variation in ELSD signal inten sity and detection limit was found to exist among the various plant me mbrane lipid classes. The variation in detector response among plant l ipid classes is an important consideration in achieving accurate quant itative results in plant lipid analyses.