Densitometric quantitation of neutral lipids on ammonium sulfate impregnated thin-layer chromatograms

A procedure is described which extends the densitometric quantitation of phospholipids on ammonium sulfate impregnated thin-layer chromatograms by Gluck et al. to include total lipid, free and esterified cholesterol, free fatty acid and triglyceride. Lipids separated on thin-layer plates containing silica gel G impregnated with ammonium sulfate were charred upon heating and absorbance was measured densitometrically. Thus, the necessity of spraying or submersing in a charring agent was eliminated, uniform charring became possible, and quantitation over a wider range of sample sizes than most densitometric procedures was obtained. One linear relationship existed for concentrations of standards over the range of 0.0-3.0 mug and another line from 4.0-50.0 mug. Both accuracy and precision of the method were highly reliable.