Hen egg yolks were lyophilized at -54 degrees C for 18 h, extd. with Me(2)CO to remove fats and then extd. 3 times with MeOH, EtOH or i-PrOH for 10 min to recover phospholipids (I). The alc. exts. in hexane and the I pptd. with Me(2)CO at 4 degrees C. The products were analyzed by liq. chromatog. for phosphatydylcholine, phosphatydylethanolamine and cholesterol. The lyophilization resulted in an increase of the I purity. The best results (yield 7.7% I content 97.6% cholesterol content 0.15%) were achieved when MeOH was used as the extn. solvent.