What is the Difference Between Lecithin and Cephalin

The key difference between lecithin and cephalin is that lecithin contains amino alcohol and choline, whereas cephalin contains amino alcohols, serine, or ethanolamine.

Lecithin and cephalin are important organic compounds. These substances have important roles in the body. Lecithin is any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances that occur in animal and plant tissues that are amphiphilic and are useful for smoothing food texture. Cephalin is a class of phospholipids that can be found in biological membranes.

CONTENT

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Lecithin 
3. What is Cephalin
4. Lecithin vs Cephalin in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Lecithin vs Cephalin 

What is Lecithin?

Lecithin is any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances that occur in animal and plant tissues that are amphiphilic and are useful for smoothing food texture. Amphiphilic means it can attract both water and fatty substances. In addition to smoothing food texture, it is also useful in emulsifying, homogenizing liquid mixtures, and repelling sticking materials.

This substance was first isolated in 1845 by the French Chemist and pharmacist Theodore Gobley. He also described the occurrence of these substances in a variety of biological materials such as venous blood, human lungs, bile, human brain tissues, fish eggs, fish roe, chicken, etc.

Moreover, we can extract lecithin chemically using solvents like hexane, ethanol, acetone, petroleum ether, or benzene. We can do this extraction mechanically as well. The food sources for lecithins include egg yolk, marine foods, soybeans, milk, rapeseeds, cottonseed, and sunflower oil.

The most important properties of lecithin are emulsification and lubricant properties. This substance can be completely metabolized by humans, and it is so well-tolerated by humans and is nontoxic when ingested.

What is Cephalin?

Cephalin is a class of phospholipids that can be found in biological membranes. It is also known as phosphatidylethanolamine. We can synthesize this substance by the addition of cytidine diphosphate-ethanolamine with diglycerides. This releases cytidine monophosphate. Moreover, S-adenosyl methionine can methylate the amine of cephalin to form phosphatidylcholine. Furthermore, we can find it mainly in the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer.

We can find this compound in all living cells; it comprises about 25% of all phospholipids. In humans, we can find this substance, particularly in nervous tissue and the spinal cord; it makes up about 45% of all phospholipids. In membrane fusion, cephalin has an important role. It is also important in the disassembly of the contractile ring during cytokinesis in cell division.

What is the Difference Between Lecithin and Cephalin?

Lecithin and cephalin are important organic compounds. These substances have important roles in the human body. The key difference between lecithin and cephalin is that lecithin contains amino alcohol and choline, whereas cephalin contains amino alcohols, serine, or ethanolamine. Moreover, lecithin is useful in the metabolic process and in moving fats, while cephalin is useful in treating bacterial infections in the body.

Below is a summary of the difference between lecithin and cephalin in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Lecithin vs Cephalin

Lecithin is any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances that occurs in animal and plant tissues that are amphiphilic and are useful for smoothing food texture. Cephalin is a class of phospholipids that can be found in biological membranes. The key difference between lecithin and cephalin is that lecithin contains amino alcohol and choline, whereas cephalin contains amino alcohols, serine, or ethanolamine.

Reference:

1. “Cephalin 500mg Capsule: View Uses, Side Effects, Price and Substitutes.” 1mg Drugs.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Lecitina de soja en Montevideo” By Mx. Granger – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Biosynthesis of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylethanolamine” By Adenosine – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia