phosphatidylcholine in eggs

Phospholipids (PLs) are major constituents of cell membranes and play a crucial role in the biochemistry and physiology of the cell. They are widely used as emulsifiers in foods, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Commercially available PLs are isolated from soybean oil, sunflower oil and egg yolk. Among them, egg yolk is a good natural source of PLs.

Egg yolk lecithin contains 78% (w/w) phosphatidylcholine (PC), 18% (w/w)

phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and 2% (w/w) cholesterol. Phospholipids from natural sources comprise several acyl groups, the ratio of which depends on the source. A typical fatty acyl compositions of PC isolated from egg yolk are: palmitic (16:0; 33%), stearic (18:0; 11%), oleic (18:1; 32%) and linoleic (18:2; 9%). PC from egg yolk contains mainly saturated fatty acids and no sn-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which is a good model of biofilm.

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