Liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of glycerophospholipids in corn oil

The phospholipid composition of corn oil was determined by LC/ESI-MS. The content of phospholipids in the oils varied from 5.2% to 8.7%. The major components in the phospholipids fraction were phosphatidylcholine (57.5-68.1%), phosphatidylinositol (14.5-19.8%), and phosphatidylethanolamine (10.3-13.9%). Phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylglycerol accounted for less than 10% of total phospholipid content. Various molecular species within each class were detected. The phosphatidylcholine class was mainly composed of phosphatidylcholine-C18:2/C18:1 (40-45%) and phosphatidylcholine-18:1/C18:1 (40-51%). Phosphatidylinositol-C16:0/C18:2 (50-69%) was the most abundant phosphatidylinositol. The two phosphatidylethanolamines were phosphatidylethanolamine-C16:0/C18:2 (34-42%) and phosphatidylethanolamine-C18:2/C18:2 (31-36%). Phosphatidylglycerol species were mainly phosphatidylglycerol-C16:0/C18:2 (42-48%) and phosphatidylglycerol-C16:0/C18:1 (36.7-40.3%). identification of PC molecular species suggests the possibility that corn oil can have therapeutics effects. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.