Phospholipids and component fatty acids of the pigeon liver.

The phospholipids from the livers of adult pigeons were separated by thin layer chromatography and the component fatty acids analyzed by gas liquid chromatography. They consisted of 53.0% phosphatidylcholine, 26.3% phosphatidylethanolamine, 8.6% sphingomyelin, 6.3% cardiolipin and 4.8% lysophosphatidylcholine. Phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine were characterized by a high concentration of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids with the highest percentages in the phosphatidylethanolamine. Sphingomyelin contained up to 64.5% saturated acids. About 80% of the fatty acids present in the cardiolipid fraction consisted of linoleic acid. The liver phospholipids had the same composition in lactating as a nonlactating pigeons, but differed in many respects from those available in the crop-milk.