Lecithin vs. Cephalin

Lecithinnoun

(organic chemistry) The principal phospholipid in animals; it is particularly abundant in egg yolks, and is extracted commercially from soy. It is a major constituent of cell membranes, and is commonly used as a food additive (as an emulsifier).

Lecithinnoun

A complex, nitrogenous phosphorized substance widely distributed through the animal body, and especially conspicuous in the brain and nerve tissue, in yolk of eggs, and in the white blood corpuscles.

Lecithinnoun

a yellow phospholipid essential for the metabolism of fats; found in egg yolk and in many plant and animal cells; used commercially as an emulsifier

Lecithin

Lecithin (, from the Greek lekithos ) is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so are both hydrophilic and lipophilic), and are used for smoothing food textures, emulsifying, homogenizing liquid mixtures, and repelling sticking materials.Lecithins are mixtures of glycerophospholipids including phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidic acid.Lecithin was first isolated in 1845 by the French chemist and pharmacist Théodore Gobley. In 1850, he named the phosphatidylcholine lécithine.

Cephalinnoun

(biochemistry) A phospholipid found particularly in the cells of nervous tissue; it is also the primary phospholipid in bacteria.

Cephalinnoun

One of a group of phospholipids (nitrogenous phosphorized fatty substances), present in all living cells and particularly evident in nervous tissue. The cephalins consist of glycerol phosphate in which the two free hydroxyls of the glycerol are esterified with fatty acids, and the phosphate forms an ester linkage to the hydroxyl of ethanolamine. The phosphate may be linked to the alpha (end) or beta (middle) hydroxyl of the glycerol portion. The natural isomers are of the alpha form, and have the general formula R.O.CH2.CHOR´.CH2.O.PO2.O.CH2.CH2.NH2, where R and R´ are the acyl residues of long-chain fatty acids, which may be the same or different.

Cephalin

It is a example of glycerophospholipid. (Compound lipid).