ANALYSIS OF WOOL LIPIDS USING THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH FLAME IONIZATION DETECTION

This paper examines the usefulness of thin-layer chromatography (TLC), coupled with an automated quantitative detection system based on flame ionization detection (FID), for the qualitative and quantitative determination of lipids in wool. The Iatroscan TLC-FID system has been used to determine the composition of the solvent soluble material (internal lipids) isolated from wool after Soxhlet extraction with a chloroform/methanol azeotrope, and to investigate whether scouring treatments affect the composition of the internal lipids. Changes in the composition of wool grease that occur as a result of exposure to sunlight (behind glass) and during weathering in the fleece are also examined.