Determination and Comparison of Phospholipid Profiles in Seven Kinds of Egg Types Using UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS

International audiencePhospholipids from seven egg types were purified (purity > 96%) by solid-phase extraction cartridges, and subsequently identified and quantified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS). 10 phospholipid classes were detected and 93 molecular species were characterized. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that molecular species and concentration of phospholipids in pigeon and hen egg yolks had significant difference with other egg types. Hierarchical cluster analysis further indicated that the phospholipid profiles of pigeon egg yolk were closest to hen egg yolk, following quail, duck, ostrich, emu and goose egg yolks. The quantification of several representative molecular species can be considered to be most responsible for the discrimination among egg yolks phospholipids, for example, SM(d18:1/16:0) in goose egg yolk and PC(16:0/20:4) in duck egg yolk. This study provides a basis for better understanding phospholipid profiles of egg yolks and better evaluating the nutritional value of eggs