DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION OF LECITHIN IN LARVAE OF THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY, PIERIS-BRASSICAE

1. 1. Dietary lecithin [phosphatidyl (N-methyl-14C) choline] is converted to the surface-active lysolecithin and to water-soluble metabolites in the intestinal lumen of the butterfly, Pieris brassicae. 2. 2. In the midgut cells radioactivity was found in lecithin, lysolecithin and sphingomyelin. 3. 3. In the haemolymph over 90% of the radioactivity was water-soluble after 6hr, but only 32% was water-soluble after 48 hr of feeding. Labeled lipids in the haemolymph were lecithin (ca. 90% of lipid radioactivity) and sphingomyelin. 4. 4. Based on an assay of lipid phosphorus, dietary lecithin was found to be utilized by the larvae almost completely. The titre and specific activity of midgut lysolecithin suggest a role for this lipid in absorption. © 1979.