Lecithins have emulsification and lubricant properties, and are a surfactant. They can be completely metabolized (see inositol) by humans, so are well tolerated by humans and nontoxic when ingested.
The major components of commercial soybean-derived lecithin are:
* 33–35% soybean oil
* 20–21% phosphatidylinositols
* 19–21% phosphatidylcholine
* 8–20% phosphatidylethanolamine
* 5–11% other phosphatides including phosphatidylserine
* 5% free carbohydrates
* 2–5% sterols
* 1% moisture
Lecithin is used for applications in human food, animal feed, pharmaceuticals, paints, and other industrial applications.
Applications include:
* In the pharmaceutical industry, it acts as a wetting agent, stabilizing agent and a choline enrichment carrier, helps in emulsification and encapsulation, and is a good dispersing agent. It can be used in manufacture of intravenous fat infusions and for therapeutic use.
* In animal feed, it enriches fat and protein and improves pelletization.
* In the paint industry, it forms protective coatings for surfaces with painting and printing ink, helps as a rust inhibitor, is a colour intensifying agent, catalyst, conditioning aid modifier, and dispersing aid; it is a good stabilizing and suspending agent, emulsifier, and wetting agent, helps in maintaining uniform mixture of several pigments, helps in grinding of metal oxide pigments, is a spreading and mixing aid, prevents hard settling of pigments, eliminates foam in water-based paints, and helps in fast dispersion of latex-based paints.
* Lecithin also may be used as a release agent for plastics, an anti-sludge additive in motor lubricants, an anti-gumming agent in gasoline, and an emulsifier, spreading agent, and antioxidant in textile, rubber, and other industries.