A rapid quantitative determination of triglycerides by means of thin-layer chromatography

A quantitative chromatographic method for determining triglycerides in serum is described. The serum is applied directly to a thin-layer plate and after partition with one developing solvent the fractions are charred with 10% sulphuric acid. Charring takes 20 minutes. The concentration of triglycerides is measured against a triolein standard, which in itself is corrected for having too many double bonds by scanning the charring of the triglyceride fraction with a "flying spot"-scanner or a slitscanner. The results are compared with other methods of determination.