Liquid chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis of glycerophospholipids in corn oil

The phospholipid composition of corn oil was determined by LC/ESI-MS. The content of phospholipids in the oils varied from 5.2% to 8.7%. The major components in the phospholipids fraction were phosphatidylcholine (57.5–68.1%), phosphatidylinositol (14.5–19.8%), and phosphatidylethanolamine (10.3–13.9%). Phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylglycerol accounted for less than 10% of total phospholipid content. Various molecular species within each class were detected. The phosphatidylcholine class was mainly composed of phosphatidylcholine-C18:2/C18:1 (40–45%) and phosphatidylcholine-18:1/C18:1 (40–51%). Phosphatidylinositol-C16:0/C18:2 (50–69%) was the most abundant phosphatidylinositol. The two phosphatidylethanolamines were phosphatidylethanolamine-C16:0/C18:2 (34–42%) and phosphatidylethanolamine-C18:2/C18:2 (31–36%). Phosphatidylglycerol species were mainly phosphatidylglycerol-C16:0/C18:2 (42–48%) and phosphatidylglycerol-C16:0/C18:1 (36.7–40.3%). Identification of PC molecular species suggests the possibility that corn oil can have therapeutics effects.