Identification of triglycerides in the bovine lens by chromatographic analysis

A combination of chromatographic techniques was used to designate the structural types of triglycerides in bovine lenses. Total lipids were extracted from fresh bovine lenses with subsequent isolation of triglycorides by thin layer chromatography. The purified triglycerides were separated according to unsaturation by silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel G TLC plates. Total triglycerides and individual Ag+TLC fractions then were analyzed quantitatively by gas-liquid chromatography to determine their triglyceride and fatty acid composition. Results obtained by these methods show that bovine lenses contain 45 components, the majority of which are in the 804–890 mol, wt range (carbon numbers 48–54). Triglycerides with two double bonds per molecule predominate (46·6 mole%), while those with 1, 3 or more, and 0 double bonds represent 24·4, 21·0 and 8·0 mole%, respectively. The data from this investigation indicate that dioleo-palmitin (OOP) and palmitoleo-stearo-olein (PoSO) are the most abundant triglycerides in bovine lenses.