Lipids

Pre-coated TLC plates provides as exacting a means for the purification of lipids as using HPLC. Furthermore, the use of TLC plates is much more convenient for the separation of different lipid classes from animal and plant tissues. There is no lower cost high resolution technology available for the detection of lipids. High performance TLC plates manufactured using silica gel or alumina prepared with uniform small particle size material for the stationary phase permits excellent separations with short elution times. The power of TLC technology for quantitative lipid detection is impressive. It is possible to detect as little as 25 ng of phospholipids, 25 ng of cholesterol and 50 ng of neutral lipids and fatty acids. Standard TLC plates are 20 cm tall with varying widths. We recommend use of a standard size commercially prepared TLC plate, which is 20 x 20 cm. For the analysis of complex lipids specific spray reagents are applied to detect particular functional groups: this simplicity in performance is not available using HPLC. Lipid classes are first divided into neutral lipids such as triglycerides, polar compounds such as phospholipids and cholesterol. By the use of the plates it is possible to separate complex lipid components such as the individual elements in vegetable oils, or parts of the mammalian cell membrane. When performing two dimensional TLC excellent resolution can be achieved using either aluminum or glass backed plates.

TLC Plates Product Info | Thin Layer Chromatography in the Purification of Lipids