Evaluation of the results of the QUASIMEME lipid intercomparison: the Bligh & Dyer total lipid extraction method

The results of the QUASIMEME lipid intercomparison exercise were evaluated in relation to the Bligh & Dyer (1959) total lipid extraction method. Most of the participants provided detailed information on their methods and a comparison was made based on the following parameters: drying temperature; subsampling; sample intake; solvent composition of the extraction—and partition mixture; the use of a second extraction; mixing method; and the use of filtration. Only a small number of laboratories applied conditions which conformed strictly to the original method of Bligh & Dyer (1959). Although these conditions were originally specified for cod muscle tissue, they are applicable to mussel tissue as well. Some differences in the results could be attributed to deviations from the original method, but none of them were significant with the exception of subsampling. The latter resulted in significant differences between laboratories that used the same extraction method, caused by an inappropriate compensation for the amount of organic phase absorbed by the tissue (Smedes & Thomasen, 1996).